Table 1.

Description of Studies.

	No.	First author/year	Type of tool	Tool evaluated in patients/families or providers; study design	Description	Development process/source
Identified through pubmed search	1	Whitmer M (2005)	Documentation template	No	ICU family meeting progress note that included free-text space to document family concerns expressed during the meeting	Based on process improvement research on interdisciplinary communication
	2	Hudson P (2008)	Meeting guide/ agenda	No	Outlines key agenda topics, including introductions, determining understanding of the purpose of the meeting, asking patients about questions/concerns, determining what the patient and family already know, addressing predetermined objectives, and providing resources and information	Literature review, expert panel, and focus groups with physicians
			Meeting planner	No	Eight steps to prepare for a family meeting, including introducing and offering the family meeting on admission of the patient, identifying family member participants, identifying a meeting leader from the clinical team and other providers, and confirming meeting time and location
			Documentation template	No	Recommendations for what to document, including attendees, decisions made, and follow-up plan
	3	Gueguen JA (2009)	Training module	Providers; pre–post	A palliative care family meeting communication skills training module for health care professionals that was composed of 6 key categories of skills particularly relevant to family meetings to be taught during the training: (1) establishing the consultation framework; (2) information organization; (3) checking; (4) questioning; (5) empathic communication; and (6) shared decision making	Based on the Comskil conceptual model of communication skills training evaluated the module using participant satisfaction and rating of self-efficacy in conducting family meetings
	4	Machare Delgado E (2009)	Documentation template	Patients/families; pre–post	A multidisciplinary team and family meeting form that includes a problem list, goals of care, symptom assessments, and meeting attendees	Based on palliative care literature on communication during family meetings
	5	Ambuel B (2009)	Meeting guide/ agenda	No	“Fast Facts and Concepts” guide outlining process steps for a family conference	Evidence-based summaries on select topics in end-of-life care
	6	Weissman DE (2009)	Meeting planner	No	“Fast Facts and Concepts” guide outlining steps to prepare for a family meeting, including reviewing medical data, synthesizing information, and identifying meeting leaders and setting
	7	Weismann DE (2009)	Meeting guide/ agenda	No	“Fast Facts and Concepts” guide for conducting the early stages of a family meeting that includes introductions, determining what the family knows, and opening lines
	8	Weismann DE (2010)	Communication strategy	No	“Fast Facts and Concepts” guide for acknowledging and responding to emotions that arise during family meetings
	9	Weissman DE (2010)	Conflict management strategy	No	“Fast Facts and Concepts” guide for developing a strategy to address and manage conflict during family meetings by addressing underlying causes
	10	Fineberg IC (2011)	Meeting guide/ agenda	No	Meeting guide for structuring family meetings that include introductions, agenda setting, review of patient history, diagnosis, prognosis, care plan and discharge plan, and follow-up	Analysis of videotaped and audiotaped family meetings
	11	Billings JA (2011)	Meeting planner	No	Steps for preparing for family meetings, including setting up an agenda and agreeing on goals, identifying family invitees and determining staff participation, and holding a premeeting staff conference to reach agreement on how to conduct the family meeting	Literature review of ICU family meetings
			Meeting guide/ agenda	No	Guide for conducting ICU family meetings in situations in which the patient cannot participate, including introducing participants, assessing family understanding of the patient’s condition, eliciting preferences for information and decision-making, discussing what it is like for the patient now, and exploring family beliefs about what the patient would want
	12	Sharma RK (2011)	Meeting planner	No	Steps for preparing for family meetings with consideration of cross-cultural issues, including arranging for a professional medical interpreter and meeting with interpreter before the family meeting to review the purpose of the meeting and relevant cultural information	Narrative review
			Meeting guide/agenda	No	Guide for conducting palliative care family meetings with consideration of cross-cultural issues, including involving an interpreter, asking the interpreter to state when he or she is providing strict interpretation versus interjecting his or her own comments, and regularly checking in with family to evaluate understanding
Identified via expert review	1	Lilly CM (2000)	Meeting guide/agenda	Patients/families; pre–post	Agenda specifying 4 objectives: review medical facts, discuss patient perspectives on EOL care, agree on care plan, and agree on criteria for judging success or failure of care plan	Not provided
			Decision aid/ screener	Patients/families; pre–post	List of clinical variables to determine the need for a family meeting, including predicted length of stay, predicted mortality, and change in functional status
	2 and 3	Nelson JE (2009) and Penrod JD (2011)	Meeting planner	Patients/families (Penrod only); pre–post	Template outlining steps necessary to prepare for a day 5 family meeting in the ICU, including identifying a surrogate, establishing team consensus on meeting goals, and preparing an agenda	Literature review, expert consensus, survey data
			Decision aid/ screener	Patients/families (Penrod only); pre–post	A screening tool that uses clinical variables to determine the likelihood of a ≥5 days stay in the ICU, including S/P cardiac arrest, advanced malignancy, or multisystem organ failure
			Family checklist	Patients/families (Penrod only); pre–post	Checklist to help prepare families to participate in family meetings
			Documentation template	Patients/families (Penrod only); pre–post	Template specifying key elements of family meetings to be documented, including attendees, patient participation, and topics of discussion
	4	Daly BJ (2010)	Meeting guide/ agenda	Patients/families; controlled clinical trial	Agenda specifying required family meeting content, including a medical update, patient values and preferences, goals of care, treatment plan, and milestones for determining success or failure of the treatment plan	Not provided

Abbreviations: ICU, intensive care unit; EOL, end-of-life care.