Families Who Stayed at Ronald McDonald House Reported More Positive Overall Hospital Experiences in New Study

OAK BROOK, IL--(Marketwired - Apr 24, 2015) - A study published in Medical Care Research and Review finds that families of hospitalized children who stayed at a Ronald McDonald House reported more positive overall hospital experiences than families who stayed in other accommodation types, such as in the child's hospital room or even in the family's own home.

The study, "The Child and Family Hospital Experience: Is it influenced by family accommodation?" was led by Dr. Linda Franck, Chair of the Department of Family Health Care Nursing at the University of California-San Francisco and supported by a grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC).

Dr. Franck and her team added questions about accommodation to standardized inpatient pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit family experience surveys at 10 U.S. hospitals. The first-of-its-kind study aimed to determine the accommodation types used by families, compare characteristics across accommodation types, and explore the influence of where families stay when their child is hospitalized on overall hospital experience outcomes.

Based on 5,467 survey responses, accommodation type was a significant predictor for the three hospital experience outcomes studied. Families who stayed at a Ronald McDonald House reported that it helped them be more involved in their child's care, gave the hospitals higher overall ratings, and more often would recommend the hospital to family or friends compared with parents who stayed elsewhere.

The study's authors hypothesized that the supportive services in the House, communal housing that facilitates social support from other families having a similar experience, and "home away from home" approach may account for its stronger association with positive hospital experiences.

"Family health care experience is increasingly recognized as an important indicator of the quality of care for hospitalized children, but little has been known about how family accommodation affects the family's hospital experience," Dr. Franck said. "Our findings suggest that providing supportive family accommodation is a quality-distinguishing activity and this should incentivize hospitals to innovate in providing family-centered facilities and support services."

About Ronald McDonald's House Charities
Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC®), a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) corporation, creates, finds and supports programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children. Through its global network of 300 Chapters in more than 62 countries and regions, its three core programs, the Ronald McDonald House®, the Ronald McDonald Family Room® and the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile®, and millions of dollars in grants to support children's programs worldwide, RMHC provides stability and vital resources to families so they can get and keep their children healthy and happy. All RMHC-operated and supported programs, enable family-centered care, provide a bridge to quality health care, are a vital part of the health care continuum and give children and families the time they need to heal and cope better together. RMHC is the 2014 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Social Services Non-Profit Brand of the Year.