Data associated with the PLoS ONE publication 'A Brief Intervention for Preparing ICU Families to be Proxies: A Phase I Study' by Turnbull et al. 2017

Background: Family members of critically ill patients report high levels of conflict with clinicians, have poor understanding of prognosis, struggle to make decisions, and experience substantial symptoms of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress regardless of patient survival status. Efficient interventions are needed to prepare these families to act as patient proxies. Objectives: To assess a brief “patient activation” intervention designed to set expectations and prepare families of adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients to communicate effectively with the clinical team. Design: Phase I study of acceptability and immediate side effects Setting and Participants: 122 healthcare proxies of 111 consecutive patients with a stay of ≥24 hours in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Medical ICU (MICU), in Baltimore, Maryland. Intervention: Reading aloud to proxies from a booklet (Flesch-Kincard reading grade level 3.8) designed with multidisciplinary input including from former MICU proxies (2017-08)