Even if health care professionals should take into account the
active involvement of families in Intensive Care Units (ICUs), little
research that investigates family member’s contributions to care
and includes its outcomes on both the family itself and the patient
care, is available. The aim of this research project is to assess the
effects of a family engagement program on family members’ satisfaction
and on patients’ well-being and quality of life. A quasiexperimental
study with two non-randomized groups (94 per each
group) will be performed in two general ICUs of an Academic
Italian Hospital. The intervention will be carried out in a single
ICU and it consists of family members’ involvement in the care of
their loved ones by means of bed physical exercises and simple
care tasks. Participants will be evaluated through manifold outcomes:
family satisfaction, assessed with the FS-ICU tool within
48 hours after ICU discharge; patients’ sense of well-being, measured
with a visual analogue scale within 30 minutes after the time
period of a visit; and the quality of life, investigated with the SF-
12 questionnaire within the first 48 hours after admission to ICU,
at three and six months after ICU discharge by telephone. From
July 2020, 188 subjects are going to be enrolled throughout the
year. The latest data will be collected in December 2021 to allow
the completion of the follow-ups of all participants. First, this
study constitutes a significant step in a research agenda aimed at
deepening the nursing sensitive outcomes in ICUs and the quality
of hospital care. Secondly, the results of this study might have the
potential to provide a better understanding of how families may
modify patients’ outcomes and whether family members would
benefit from an involvement program.
