How to communicate with family members of the critically ill in the intensive care unit: A scoping review

Abstract

Objective

To map the existing approaches to communication with family members of the critically ill in the intensive care unit and the corresponding implementation requirements and benefits.

Methods

We conducted a scoping review in February 2022 by searching PubMed, CINAHL, APA PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library for articles published between 2000 and 2022. We included records of all designs that met our inclusion criteria and applied frequency counts and qualitative coding.

Results

The search yielded 3749 records, 63 met inclusion criteria. The included records were of an interventional (43 %) or observational (14 %) study design or review articles (43 %), and provided information in three categories: communication platforms, strategies, and tools. For implementation in the intensive care unit, the approaches required investing time and resources. Their reported benefits were an increased quality of communication and satisfaction among all parties involved, improved psychological outcome among family members, and reduced intensive care unit length of stay and costs.

Conclusion

The current approaches to communication with patients’ family members offer insights for the development and implementation of communication pathways in the intensive care unit of which the benefits seem to outweigh the efforts. Structured interprofessional frameworks with standardised tools based on empathic communication strategies are encouraged.