FAMILY SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY OF PALLIATIVE CARE IN HOSPICE SETTINGS USING THE VALIDATED FAMCARE QUESTIONNAIRE

A.K. KATAYEVA

Vestnik, 2025

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DOI 10.53065/kaznmu.2025.75.4.005
Data confidence 70 medium
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Abstract

Introduction.Palliative care quality is a critical determinant of end-of-life experience for both patients and their families.Family satisfaction reflects not only clinical outcomes but also communication, accessibility, and psychosocial support.Validated instruments, such as FAMCARE, allow standardized measurement across domains of care.Aim.The aim of the study was to evaluate family caregivers' satisfaction with the quality of palliative care in a hospice setting using the validated RU/KZ version of the FAMCARE questionnaire, and to examine its association with health literacy and organizational factors. Materials and methods.A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 family caregivers of hospice patients.The RU/KZ version of FAMCARE (20 items, 4 domains) was applied after forward-backward translation and expert panel adaptation.Additional items assessed health literacy (3 questions).Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, χ² tests, Mann-Whitney U test, and Spearman correlations. Results.Internal consistency of FAMCARE was high (α=0.86RU, α=0.82 KZ).The overall mean satisfaction score was 3.28±0.77for the Russian version and 3.34±0.72for the Kazakh version (out of 5).Family members with low health literacy (56%) reported higher satisfaction compared to those with adequate literacy (3.45±0.6 vs. 2.95±0.6;p=0.004).The greatest differences were observed in the domains of information (3.4±0.8 vs. 2.9±0.7;p=0.018) and accessibility/coordination (3.5±0.7 vs. 3.0±0.7;p=0.015).Correlation analysis demonstrated significant associations: physician response time (ρ=-0.48;p=0.002), nurse response time (ρ=-0.41;p=0.006), and bed waiting time (ρ=-0.36;p=0.011). Conclusion.The RU/KZ FAMCARE demonstrated high reliability and feasibility for evaluating family satisfaction in hospice care.Family members with higher health literacy tended to assess care more critically, highlighting gaps in information and psychosocial support.Reducing response times and improving communication should be priorities for quality improvement in palliative services. Key words: palliative care, family satisfaction,