Clinical Research Directory
Browse clinical research sites, groups, and studies.
Family-authored Digital ICU Diary Intervention to Support Bereaved Family Members in Intensive Care Unit: A Pilot Mixed Methods Study
Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong
Summary
Objectives: To assess the feasibility, acceptability and appropriateness of a family-authored digital ICU diary intervention for bereaved family members in Hong Kong ICUs, and to explore family members' experiences of writing digital diaries during and following patient death. Hypothesis: The ICU digital diary intervention will prove feasible, acceptable and potentially efficacious in reducing bereaved family members' PTSD, anxiety and depression at 1 and 3 months post-patient death compared with baseline measurements. Design and Subjects: A two-arm, assessor-blind pilot randomised controlled trial with subsequent qualitative process evaluation. Forty family members of ICU patients receiving life-sustaining treatment will be recruited from three Hong Kong public hospitals and randomised 1:1 to intervention or control groups. Instruments: Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM), Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM), Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM), Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), Posttraumatic Stress Syndrome-14 (PTSS-14) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Intervention: Family-authored digital ICU diary via WhatsApp, commencing when a patient's treatment is deemed life-sustaining, continuing through death and a one-month bereavement period. Main Outcome Measures: Primary: recruitment rate, retention rate, compliance, feasibility, acceptability and appropriateness. Secondary: symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression. Data Analysis: Descriptive statistics for feasibility outcomes; repeated measures ANOVA and linear mixed effects models for psychological outcomes; thematic analysis for qualitative data.
Official title: Feasibility, Acceptability and Efficacy of a Family-authored Digital ICU Diary Intervention for Bereaved Family Members in Hong Kong Intensive Care Units: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial With Qualitative Process Evaluation
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
40
Start Date
2026-09-01
Completion Date
2029-08-31
Last Updated
2026-08-26
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Family-authored Digital ICU Diary Intervention
From medical consideration of life-sustaining treatment through patient death + 1 month post-death (approximately 4 weeks active writing, then wound down)
Standard Care
Standard care without the digital ICU diary intervention