Coping with crisis: how Australian families search for and select an aged care facility for a family member upon discharge from an acute care setting.

Searching for, and selecting, an aged care facility for a family member upon his or her discharge from an acute setting is known, anecdotally, to be a challenge; but the process itself, and its effects on families, has seldom been examined. In this exploratory/descriptive study, face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with sponsors (often family members) of residents who had been admitted to an aged care facility within the past 90 days, following their discharge from an acute care setting. Where possible, both sponsor and resident were interviewed. This paper reports on the participants' perceptions of the search and selection process. Specific areas of interest were probed: Why and how the decision was made to seek residential placement; when and how the search for an aged care facility began; factors that were important in the family's final selection process; what happened when families, either initially or in the long term, were unable to find a place in an aged care facility; and the family's perspective about the efficacy of the search and selection process and its effect on the well being of the family. Residents are often passive in the search and selection process, while sponsors are often actively involved. Very few residents or sponsors consider planning for an aged care facility prior to hospitalisation, and there is often the perception by families of having very little support at this stressful and emotional time. The decision to relocate a family member in these circumstances is a stressful experience and should be viewed as a family crisis, particularly if unexpected such as upon discharge from an acute setting. These findings provide valuable insights that can be used to guide and assist families experiencing this process, as well as health care professionals working with families in this situation.