Authors sought to determine whether palliative care specialists — those trained to provide emotional support, convey difficult information and provide support to the families of chronically ill patients — were able to provide measurable psychological relief to family caregivers.
For the study, researchers enrolled 256 adult patients and their caregivers from across three tertiary care centers and one community hospital in the intensive care unit. Patients were split into two groups — one group was given two meetings with a palliative care physician and nurse practitioner, the other group did not participate in said meetings. All patients received at least seven days of mechanical ventilation. The family of patients in both groups reported high perception of quality, communication and satisfaction regarding care. There was no significant difference in reportage of quality between the two groups.
Study author Shannon Carson, MD, of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, said, “Findings of our study indicate that routine referral of these patients for palliative care consultation does not improve psychological distress for families as compared to effective communication by ICU physicians…ICU physicians should continue to make communication and support for family decision-makers an important part of their practice in the ICU.”
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