Abstract
Objectives: Independent of the underlying disease, intensive care unit survivors often suffer from cog-nitive, physical and mental impairments, also known as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). Specific follow-up services are recommended for these patients. This study aims to capture the perspectives of health care providers on the development of the first intensive care unit follow-up-clinic in ...
Abstract
Objectives: Independent of the underlying disease, intensive care unit survivors often suffer from cog-nitive, physical and mental impairments, also known as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). Specific follow-up services are recommended for these patients. This study aims to capture the perspectives of health care providers on the development of the first intensive care unit follow-up-clinic in Germany. Research methodology: A qualitative study with six focus groups (n = 41) and six expert inter-views, followed by a quantitative survey was conducted, involving nine different professions. Qualitative and quantitative data were analysed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics, respectively. Findings: Participants described aftercare of former intensive care unit patients as complex and appreciated the idea of an intensive care unit follow-up clinic to improve continuity of care and multidisciplinary collaboration. The favoured model combined diagnostics and targeted refer-ral of patients to specialists and therapists with the provision of information. In the survey, par-ticipants disagreed on how to implement this referral system but agreed that assessments should be multidimensional. Conclusion: The necessity of and important criteria for the design of an intensive care unit follow-up clinic were identified. We will integrate these data with further evidence to develop a concept for a complex intervention. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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