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- Ahlberg, Mona, 1966-
(författare)
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Being cared for in an Intensive Care Unit – family functioning and support
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- When COVID-19 came as an uninvited guest into our everyday lives, nursing in intensive care was affected and thus the studies contain data from both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Before the pandemic, most intensive care units, which care for patients with critical illness in a technical setting, allowed family members to visit the patient 24 hours a day. The intensive care unit is a stressful and frightening environment for both the patient and their family. They can be affected both mentally and physically, showing symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, stress and depression. The intensive cared patient often does not remember anything from the time they were cared for in the intensive care unit, and the family needs to explain and recount this unconscious time. During the pandemic, this changed, with restrictions and limited opportunities to visit the hospital and patient due to virus outbreaks. Family members received information about the patient's medical condition by phone from a physician. The overall aim of this thesis was to explore and conceptualise the family functioning of families with a family member treated in the intensive care unit. There was also an intention to describe and evaluate how an intervention affects the family and individual family members in families where a family member received intensive care.In these studies, qualitative, quantitative, as well as mixed methods were utilised. Participants were adult intensive cared patients from seven intensive care clinics, and their families. The results examined between families are based on the patient and family characteristics. The results from study I show that families who have experienced COVID-19 and with a family member who was cared for in an intensive care unit, have existential thoughts. Study II shows no major impact on family function between families, but the answers differ within the families who experienced intensive care. In study III, concerning families experiencing intensive care and attending family health conversations, there was an awareness of family function. The conversations brought the family closer together, through improved understanding of each other. In study IV family functioning, hope and sense of coherence were com-pared among the participants in two intervention groups: Family health conversations and support group conversations. Family functioning and hope were higher in the group that participated in the family health conversations and comprehensibility, meaningfulness and vitality were higher among the participants in the support group conversation. By exploring how family function affects the individual family member and the family as a unit during critical illness and intensive care, new ways of working can be strengthened in the care of patients and their families.
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| 2. |
- Ahlberg, Mona, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Family Health Conversations create awareness of family functioning.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nursing in Critical Care. - : Wiley. - 1362-1017 .- 1478-5153. ; :2, s. 102-108
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The whole family is affected if one family member is critically ill. The Family Health Conversation Intervention may give the family tools that support healthier family functioning.AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify which components of family function are affected when families participate in Family Health Conversations.DESIGN: A secondary analysis was performed of existing qualitative interviews. The Family Health Conversation is an intervention where nurses ask the family reflective questions, and reflection is made possible in three conversation sessions.METHODS: This study included transcribed data from 13 follow-up interviews from seven families attending Family Health Conversations after three and 12 months. Data were analysed with narrative analysis, focusing on family function.RESULTS: Three themes were identified. The families' family functioning had been supported with: improved understanding of each other-there was an understanding of being in the same situation but still having totally different experiences; more concern for each other-they talked about their different experiences and felt they had become closer to each other; and a process of working through-they had experienced working through various experiences, standing by and supporting, and then being able to move on.CONCLUSIONS: The Family Health Conversation Intervention is provided to families, accompanied by nurses. The families in this study gained an awareness of their family function that brought the family closer because of improved understanding of each other and the situation. The families experienced openness, and the family members spoke more freely with each other, which facilitated the progress of working through the experience of critical illness and helped to maintain healthy family functioning.RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: It is important to have an overall perspective and to recognize the patient and the family as equally important within the family for awareness of family function.
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| 4. |
- Ahlberg, Mona, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Moving on in life after intensive care - partners' experience of group communication
- 2015
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Ingår i: Nursing in Critical Care. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1362-1017 .- 1478-5153. ; 20:5, s. 256-263
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background:Partners have a burdensome time during and after their partners’ intensive care period. They may appear to be coping welloutwardly but inside feel vulnerable and lost. Evaluated interventions for partners on this aspect are limited.Aim:The aim of this study was to describe the experience of participating in group communication with other partners of former intensivecare patients.Design:The study has a descriptive intervention-based design where group communication for partners of former, surviving intensive careunit (ICU) patients was evaluated.Methods:A strategic selection was made of adult partners to former adult intensive care patients (n=15), 5 men and 10 women, aged37–89 years. Two group communication sessions lasting 2 h were held at monthly intervals with three to five partners. The partners later wrote,in a notebook, about their feelings of participating in group communications. To deepen the understanding of the impact of the sessions, six ofthe partners were interviewed. Content analysis was used to analyse the notebooks and the interviews.Findings:Three categories were identified: (1) Emotional impact, the partners felt togetherness and experienced worries and gratitude, (2)Confirmation, consciousness through insight and reflection and (3) The meeting design, group constellation and recommendation to participatein group communication.Conclusion:Partners of an intensive care patient are on a journey, constantly trying to adapt to the new situation and find new strategiesto ever-changing circumstances. Group communications contributed to togetherness and confirmation. To share experiences with others is oneway for partners to be able to move forward in life.Relevance to clinical practice:Group communication with other patients’ partners eases the process of going through the burden ofbeing a partner to an intensive care patient. Group communications needs to be further developed and evaluated to obtain consensus andevidence for the best practice.
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| 5. |
- Backman, Carl G., et al.
(författare)
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Group meetings after critical illness-Giving and receiving strength
- 2018
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Ingår i: Intensive & Critical Care Nursing. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 0964-3397 .- 1532-4036. ; 46, s. 86-91
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: An increasing number of intensive care patients are surviving critical illness, but many develop mental, cognitive and physical impairments after discharge. Adapting to a new life situation, often with major challenges, implies the need of support. Therefore, it is important to develop interventions aimed at promoting recovery. Objective: The aim was to describe former intensive care patients feelings of sharing their experience of critical illness with other former patients. Method: Former intensive care patients (n = 17) participated in group meetings and wrote about their thoughts in a notebook after each group meeting. To deepen the understanding of the former patients experience 11 of the former patients were interviewed. The notes in the notebooks and the interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings: Meeting others revealed to the former patients new dimensions of being critically ill, and they both gave and received strength from each other. The meetings were meaningful as they gained insight into other patients lives, and realised what it meant to survive intensive care. Conclusions: The group meetings meant sharing experiences and understanding the process of survival after critical illness. Giving and receiving strength from others helped the participants to go further. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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