ArticleMalawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi2012
Utilization of family members to provide hospital care in Malawi: the role of Hospital Guardians.
Article in Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- The barriers and facilitators family caregivers experience when participating in resource-limited hospital care: a qualitative systematic review.BMJ global health · 2024Pooled it
- Family participation to enhance care and tackle health worker shortages in resource-limited hospitals: A systematic review.Journal of global health · 2023Pooled it
- Delivery of long-term-injectable agents for TB by lay carers: pragmatic randomised trial.Thorax · 2020Trial
- A qualitative evaluation of hospital versus community-based management of patients on injectable treatments for tuberculosis.BMC public health · 2018Trial
- Trial
- Appraising the infection prevention and control practices at two referral hospitals in Malawi: a mixed methods situational analysis.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2026Article
- The effects of environmental health services on patient well-being and quality of care: A qualitative study in Malawi's public healthcare facilities.SSM - health systems · 2025Article
- Designing implementation strategies for improving infection prevention and control in acute healthcare facilities in Malawi: A formative study protocol.Wellcome open research · 2025Article
- Prevalence of anxiety and associated factors among guardians of children admitted with severe malaria at Thyolo District Hospital in Malawi.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2025Article
- Care mobilities and associated contexts of hospital-based informal caregiving in Nigeria: Towards an explanatory framework.PloS one · 2025Article
- Cautiously optimistic: paediatric critical care nurses' perspectives on data-driven algorithms in low-resource settings-a human-centred design study in Malawi.BMC global and public health · 2024Article
- "I am the one taking care of her and donating blood": lived experiences of role-routines of hospital-based informal caregiving in Nigeria.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2024Article
- Opinions of Patients, Families and Healthcare Professionals on Family Involvement in the Care of Patients Hospitalized in a Moroccan University Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Observational Survey.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Experiences of caregivers of children with cancer in Malawi: A qualitative study.Cancer medicine · 2024Article
- Assessment of infrastructure, behaviours, and user satisfaction of guardian waiting shelters for secondary level hospitals in southern Malawi.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Insights into COVID-19 data collection and management in Malawi: exploring processes, perceptions, and data discrepancies.Wellcome open research · 2024Article
- Family members' perception of their needs in critical care units at a tertiary hospital in Malawi: A qualitative study.BMC nursing · 2023Article
- The experience of informal caregivers in providing patient care in hospitals in low- and middle-income countries: A qualitative meta-synthesis.Journal of health services research & policy · 2022Review
- What does family involvement in care provision look like across hospital settings in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and South Korea?BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Assessing the Utility of a Quality-of-Care Assessment Tool Used in Assessing Comprehensive Care Services Provided by Community Health Workers in South Africa.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimLike most of sub-Saharan Africa, Malawi suffers from a paucity of human resources in the health sector. With an average of one physician for every 50,000 persons, and a health care professional to in-patient population ratio of 1:277, patient care suffers. At Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) of Lilongwe, Malawi, family members, termed Hospital Guardians, are utilized to provide basic care for patients. The aim of our study is to characterize this population and explore their role in the health care system of KCH.
methodsSeventy three semi-qualitative surveys and nineteen in-depth interviews were conducted with hospital administrators, Guardians, nurses, and physicians from these wards. The results were analyzed using descriptive analysis and emergent coding.
resultsIt was found that Hospital Guardians were primarily female family members of patients and have a low literacy rate. They performed a wide range of daily tasks in patient care from wound care to advocacy. Despite their essential role in the health care system, the Guardians were provided with little support from the hospital. There was often conflict between the Guardians and hospital personnel due to overcrowding with more than one Guardian per patient; a lack of understanding of hospital rules and regulations; and a lack of respect for the Guardian role by hospital staff.
conclusionsUntil their role can be reduced by additional trained health care professionals, patient care could be improved by institutional support including a clarification of the role of the Hospital Guardians. Recommendations include a one-patient one-guardian policy; Guardian education; and enhancing Guardian resources.
Indexed as
Identifiers
23638281PMC3623026W1573345930What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.