Fulfilling the psychological and information need of the family members of critically ill patients using interactive mobile technology: A randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Intensive care nurses may have an important role in empowering families by providing psychological support and fulfilling the family's pivotal need for information. AIM: To determine whether 'education of families by tab' about the patient's condition was more associated with improved anxiety, stress, and depression levels than the 'education of families by routine'. RESEARCH DESIGN: A randomized control trial of 74 main family caregivers (intervention: 39; control: 35). SETTING: An adult intensive care unit. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and Communication and Physical Comfort Scale. RESULTS: Although information need satisfaction was not significantly different between intervention and control groups, the former reported significantly better depression score on Depression Anxiety Stress Scale comparing to the control group (p<0.01; η2=0.09) with a medium effect size. Reduction of anxiety in the intervention group were clinically significant. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that use of 'education of family by tab' is promising for intensive care nurses to provide psychological support for family members. More studies are needed to investigate this aspect of family care for better psychological support and information need satisfaction that contributes to the evidence-based practice of intensive care nursing.

A Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Psycho-Education (B-CBE) Program for Managing Stress and Anxiety of Main Family Caregivers of Patients in the Intensive Care Unit.

Having a loved one in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a stressful event, which may cause a high level of anxiety to the family members. This could threaten their wellbeing and ability to support the patients in, or after discharge from, the ICU. To investigate the outcomes of a brief cognitive-behavioral psycho-education program (B-CBE) to manage stress and anxiety of the main family caregivers (MFCs), a pragmatic quasi-experimental study involving 45 participants (treatment group: 24; control group: 21) was conducted in an ICU. The Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale and the Critical Care Family Need Inventory were used to evaluate the primary outcomes on stress and anxiety, and satisfaction with family needs. The treatment group reported significantly better improvement in the information satisfaction score compared to the control group (p < 0.05; η² = 0.09). Overall main effects were observed on the stress (p < 0.01; η² = 0.20), anxiety (p < 0.01; η² = 0.18), depression (p < 0.05; η² = 0.13), support satisfaction (p < 0.05; η² = 0.13), and comfort satisfaction (p < 0.05; η² = 0.11) scores. The experience of this study suggest that MFCs are in great need of additional support like B-CBE to manage their stress and anxiety. Given the brevity of B-CBE, it is practical for critical care nurses to deliver and MFCs to take within the industrious context of an ICU. More studies are needed to investigate these types of brief psychological interventions.