[Information brochure for relatives of people with severe illness - acceptance and feasibility]

Family members of patients with severe illness are burdened with the care and participation in challenging decisions regarding medical treatment and care in addition to the challenges of their own lives. They express a wish for low-threshold support services. However, there are few publications on targeted interventions for the support of family members of patients with a serious illness.

An information brochure was developed on the basis of a systematic review and its feasibility and acceptance were tested with an evaluation sheet, handed out to family members in 3 different settings (3 palliative care units, 21 family practices, and 2 home palliative care services) over a period of 6 weeks. Satisfaction was measured using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = very satisfied, 5 = not satisfied at all). To assess the acceptance of the brochure the participants were asked about their willingness to read. The benefit was judged on questions of information gain. In addition, deficiencies could be named and suggestions for improvement could be made.

Overall, 27 evaluation sheets were analysed. 93% of the participating relatives read the whole brochure. 63% of the relatives were satisfied or very satisfied with the flyer (median 2 = satisfied). 70% of the relatives said they had received new information.

In this feasibility study, the acceptance and usefulness of the information flyer for a large number of relatives was confirmed. Such an information flyer thus provides a low-threshold supplement to the support of families in the care at the end of life.