Umbrella review of family-focused care interventions supporting families where a family member has a long-term condition

Aim The aim of this study was to summarize reviews of family-focused care interventions that support families with a family member with a long-term condition across the life course. Design Umbrella review. Data sources Medline (1946-2019), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2019), Database of s of Reviews of Effect and EMBASE (1947-2019), CINAHL (1981-2019), Health Technology Assessment Database (2019) and PsycInfo (1806-2019). Review Methods All authors independently undertook title/abstract screening, data extraction and quality appraisal on a cluster of papers, working in groups of two or three to reach a consensus. The AMSTAR tool was used to appraise the quality of the studies and descriptive syntheses were undertaken. Results Fifteen reviews met the selection criteria. Overall family-focussed care and associated terms were poorly defined. Typically interventions were educational or psychological therapy/counselling with the goal of empowering individuals to manage their condition. There is some evidence that family-focused care interventions can improve clinical/biological health measures and self-care outcomes such as treatment adherence. Multicomponent psychosocial interventions that include cognitive-behavioural therapy, skills training, education and support and are focused on wider family members appear to improve family relationships and martial functioning. Conclusion Long-term conditions have an impact on individual and family health and well-being, yet the impact of family-focused care interventions on family outcomes was overall inconclusive. A better understanding of how family-focused care interventions improve the health and well-being of individuals and their families is needed to promote the inclusion of family-focused care into practice. Impact Supporting people with a long-term condition is a key health and social care priority. Family-focused care interventions have potential to improve the health and well-being of individuals and families, but there is a need to evaluate their clinical and cost-effectiveness. The findings from this review could be used by funding bodies when commissioning research for long-term conditions.