Lessons learned from the sccm family engagement collaborative prior to the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The Family Engagement Collaborative (FEC) was a year-long shared learning experience begun by SCCM in September 2019 that utilized educational webinars, conference calls, listserv communications, and centralized family and clinician data collection to promote ICU family engagement projects among participating sites. We describe lessons learned from the FEC up to the point at which it was cancelled due to COVID-19, at a time when most sites had just begun local project implementation. METHODS: During an orientation period, sites reported on their selected local projects via scheduled conference calls and an online listserv. All sites also planned individual methods of assessing project impact via pre- and postimplementation data collection, with the option of utilizing an SCCM REDCap database for FS-ICU 24R and IPFCC Clinician Survey data starting in January 2020. After the FEC was cancelled in March 2020, each site leader was contacted to participate in a structured phone exit interview. RESULTS: Among 27 actively participating ICUs, the most common projects were creating ICU orientation videos, packets, or educational programs (12, 44.4%) promoting structured family care conferences (6, 22.2%), and implementing ICU diaries (5, 18.5%). 212 FS-ICU 24R surveys and 346 IPFCC Clinician Surveys collected across sites before project implementation highlighted a broad need for improving family support. After cancellation, 22 site leaders (81.5%) completed an interview. 20 sites (90.1%) reported stopping their project implementation due to the pandemic. The only 2 sites that continued projects were implementing (1) a standardized palliative extubation protocol and (2) daily written summaries for families of non-decisional patients. When all site leaders were asked to rate how helpful the FEC had been from a scale of 0-10, mean response was 8.0 (SD 2.5). Seven leaders (25.9%) suggested that a future FEC could benefit by focusing more on sites implementing a specific standardized project, as opposed to promoting a variety of different ideas. CONCLUSIONS: While the pandemic had a profound impact on sites' implementation of family-centered care projects that are of clear need, participants found value in the FEC's educational and communication model and provided actionable feedback for future iterations.