Promoting Patient- and Family-Centered Care in the Intensive Care Unit: A Dissemination Project

Awareness of patient-centered and family-centered care research can assist clinicians to promote patient and family engagement in the intensive care unit. Project Dispatch (Disseminating Patient-Centered Outcomes Research to Healthcare Professionals) was developed to disseminate patient- and family-centered care research and encourage its application in clinical practice. The 3-year project involved the development of an interactive website platform, online educational programming, social media channels, a podcast and webcast series, and electronic and print media. The project’s webpages received more than 5200 page views with over 4000 unique visitors from 36 countries. The podcast series has download numbers ranging from 35 596 for “Family Presence in the ICU” to 25 843 for “Improving Patient and Family satisfaction in the ICU” and 22 148 for “Family Satisfaction in the ICU.” The project therefore successfully developed resources for critical care health care professionals to promote the patient- and family-centric perspective.