Grant: Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Patient-Oriented Research

BACKGROUND: When people are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), they often face extreme stress and a whirlwind of negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, and a sense of isolation. This emotional turmoil can hinder recovery and impact their quality of life even after leaving the ICU. While medical professionals have made strides in addressing the physical and environmental discomforts of ICU, there's a deeper layer of emotional and psychological distress - like the fear of death, feelings of hopelessness, and a sense of losing one's identity, that remains challenging to address. There's a noticeable gap in care practices that specifically aim to soothe these intense emotions. AIM: To address this, we aim to collaborate with those directly involved, ICU patients, their families, healthcare workers, and policymakers to develop a care strategy that's centered around the patient's personal experiences and needs. We will use a research approach that empowers patients to work alongside investigators, sharing their experiences and insights. Through interviews and group discussions, we'll delve into the experiences of stress in the ICU, identifying where current care practices might be falling short, and brainstorming potential solutions. PROJECT CONTRIBUTIONS: Our ultimate goal is to revolutionize the way care is provided in the ICU by shining a light on the patients' perspectives and developing a strategy to reduce stress. By focusing on these emotional and psychological aspects, we can alleviate mental health symptoms and significantly enhance the ICU experience, leading to better outcomes for patients and their families during and after critical illness.