Maximising comfort: how do patients describe the care that matters? A two-stage qualitative descriptive study to develop a quality improvement framework for comfort-related care in inpatient settings

Abstract

Objective

To develop a multidimensional framework representing patients’ perspectives on comfort to guide practice and quality initiatives aimed at improving patients’ experiences of care.

Design

Two-stage qualitative descriptive study design. Findings from a previously published synthesis of 62 studies (stage 1) informed data collection and analysis of 25 semistructured interviews (stage 2) exploring patients’ perspectives of comfort in an acute care setting.

Setting

Cardiac surgical unit in New Zealand.

Participants

Culturally diverse patients in hospital undergoing heart surgery.

Main outcomes

A definition of comfort. The Comfort ALways Matters (CALM) framework describing factors influencing comfort.

Results

Comfort is transient and multidimensional and, as defined by patients, incorporates more than the absence of pain. Factors influencing comfort were synthesised into 10 themes within four inter-related layers: patients’ personal (often private) strategies; the unique role of family; staff actions and behaviours; and factors within the clinical environment.

Conclusions

These findings provide new insights into what comfort means to patients, the care required to promote their comfort and the reasons for which doing so is important. We have developed a definition of comfort and the CALM framework, which can be used by healthcare leaders and clinicians to guide practice and quality initiatives aimed at maximising comfort and minimising distress. These findings appear applicable to a range of inpatient populations. A focus on comfort by individuals is crucial, but leadership will be essential for driving the changes needed to reduce unwarranted variability in care that affects comfort.