Table 3.

Recommended Practices and Strategies for Family Support in the ICU.52

Clinical Domains	Recommended Practices	Family Support Strategies
Decision Making	Shared decision making between clinicians and family members Full disclosure of the patient’s condition and prognosis to the family Assessment of patient’s treatment goals and preferences Multidisciplinary family conferences	Frequent and on-going family conferences Involvement of the family in treatment discussions Balanced proportions of communication between clinicians and family members Structured communication processes that discuss the patient’s prognosis, identify treatment preferences, and incorporate preferences in the plan of care
Family Coping	Assessment of family needs and family members’ psychological symptoms Consistent assignment of nurses and physicians to patient/family Encourage family to participate in the care of the critically ill patient Provide ample information based on the family members’ emotional needs Provide multidisciplinary family support	Psychological screening of family members for symptoms of depression, anxiety, ASD and PTSD Implementation of relationship based nursing Assess the informational coping style of family members and tailor the amount and frequency to their emotional needs Involve social workers, clergy, case managers, and financial advisors to address family concerns Encourage the use of existing and new social support networks

ASD = Acute Stress Disorder

PTSD = Post Traumatic Stress Disorder