NCT06490835

Feasibility Study on Implementing Consultation-based High-quality Palliative Care Services in Intensive Care Units

A Feasibility Study Protocol for Implementing Consultation-based Palliative Care Services to Provide High-quality Palliative Care to Families of Critically Ill Patients in Intensive Care Units: A Single-arm Pilot Study

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Seoul National University Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 19 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) receive life-sustaining treatments aimed at restoring or maintaining organ function. ICU admission often involves substantial physical and existential pressures that can burden patients, their families, and surrogates. Multidisciplinary palliative care support can help alleviate potential causes of suffering. Twenty patients admitted to the ICUs at Seoul National University Hospital, diagnosed with sudden and severe acute brain injury or progressive organ failure, along with their surrogates, will be enrolled in the study. This study aims to assess the feasibility of applying consultation-based palliative care services to provide higher quality palliative care for critically ill patients with acute illnesses and their families facing poor prognoses upon ICU admission. Additionally, the study seeks to determine whether providing such palliative care services can help better respect the patient's values and goals, reduce communication conflicts, alleviate family caregivers' anxiety and depression, and enhance satisfaction with critical care.

Conditions

• Critical Illness

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	High-quality palliative care through consultation-based palliative care services in the ICU	Family Counseling: Social workers implement a supportive process for families, assessing the individualized psychosocial and decisional support needs of patients and families to provide foundational data for palliative care consultations. Family Meeting Support: In cases of high medical complexity, uncertainty, value conflicts, or communication issues, the palliative care consultation team supports the facilitation of family meetings. Consultation: The palliative care team provides consultations to the attending physician based on the palliative care needs assessed during family counseling. Topics include symptom management, understanding treatment options, decisional conflict, emotional and practical support, goal of care setting, resources, and bereavement support. Palliative Care by attending Physician: The attending physician incorporates the consultations received from the palliative care consultation team to provide high-quality palliative care to patients and their families.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-06-19
• Primary completion: 2025-07-31
• Completion: 2025-12-31
• First posted: 2024-07-08
• Last updated: 2024-07-08

Locations

1 site across 1 country: South Korea