Engaging families in patient care during serious illness can enhance care quality, reduce
social isolation, boost satisfaction, and lower healthcare costs. However, active
involvement of family caregivers remains limited because there are no evidence-based
tools to guide clinicians on how to include them effectively. This study will test and
refine previously developed point-of-care application, Family Room, and determine its
effectiveness by comparison with a control group. A series of surveys will be used to
evaluate caregiver well-being, engagement and satisfaction.
The investigators will recruit participants from 5 different intensive care units (ICU)
to dampen any effects experienced within a single unit. During the first 8 months of
recruitment, a convenience sample of up to 50 participants (25 paired caregiver - patient
dyads) will be enrolled into the control group which consists of routine care and
informational practices of the ICU team. The adult family caregiver participant must be
at the patient participant's bedside during ICU admission.
During the last 10 months of recruitment, up to 50 participants (25 paired caregiver -
patient dyads) participants will be enrolled into the intervention group where they will
use the Family Room application on their personal devices. The Family Room is a point of
care tool that guides families on how to contribute to patient care by providing real
time education, a sense of connection, emotional support, and resources that enable
meaningful caregiving. Caregiver participants will receive virtual training on
comfort-focused care activities that can be done at the bedside, as well as a mechanism
within the electronic health record (EHR) to measure and record the effectiveness of the
care they provide.
Data will be collected at 2 timepoints: study enrollment and within 48 hours of patient
participant ICU discharge. Caregiver well-being will be measured every 48 hours while the
patient participant is admitted to the ICU. Caregiver participant data will be collected
through structured interviews using pre-designed questionnaires which will include items
related to demographic variables, caregiver participant psychological distress,
engagement, and satisfaction. Trained research assistants will conduct either face to
face, virtual (via Zoom), or phone interviews depending on the caregiver participant's
preference and availability. Patient participant specific data will be extracted from the
medical record.
