Evaluating and improving the practice of family-centered care

Evaluating and improving the practice of family-centered care involves planning the evaluation effort collaboratively with families, gathering information from a variety of audiences, investigating the different arenas of family-centered care, following growth in family-centered practice over time, using a variety of evaluation approaches, and integrating evaluation with efforts to change toward family-centered approaches to care. Resources available to guide the evaluation effort include guidelines for reviewing written materials in a unit, program, clinic, or practice; written surveys and checklists; guidelines for focus groups or interviews; suggestions for using health care scenarios to gather information about family-centered approaches to care; and questions for nurses to use to reflect on their own practice.