Improving family communication in the ICU and its effect on health
Official title: Communication quality during family meetings in the intensive care unit: how does quality impact health outcomes?
Funded at Pennsylvania State Univ Hershey Med Ctr · NIH-11090453 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how well healthcare teams talk with family members in the intensive care unit and how that communication affects family well-being and patient care.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Pennsylvania State Univ Hershey Med Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Hershey, United States) |
| Project start | August 16, 2023 |
| Project end | May 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $575,731 |
| NIH project number | 5R01NR020886-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11090453 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This project focuses on family members of patients who are in the intensive care unit and cannot make their own medical decisions.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who are able to make their own medical decisions or those not in an intensive care unit would not directly benefit from this particular communication improvement effort.
What this research studies
When a loved one is in the ICU and cannot make decisions, families often need to make important choices with healthcare providers. This project wants to understand why some conversations go better than others, especially considering factors like a family's background, education, and economic situation. We will gather information from family members in several ICUs to see how communication quality affects their stress levels and the overall care their loved one receives. The goal is to find ways to improve these crucial conversations for better outcomes.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to better communication strategies for healthcare teams, reducing stress for families and improving the quality of care for patients in the ICU.
How similar studies have gone: While many past efforts to improve ICU communication have had limited success, this project takes a novel approach by focusing on how social factors influence communication quality.
Where this research is happening
-
Pennsylvania State Univ Hershey Med Ctr
Hershey, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Van Scoy, Lauren Jodi — Pennsylvania State Univ Hershey Med Ctr
- Study coordinator: Van Scoy, Lauren Jodi
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.