Strategies for developing a family support group

Various interventions may be used by nurses to provide social support to critical care families. Nurses may support family members in one-to-one relationships, or by facilitating the development of supportive relationships in the group setting. The steps described here are fundamental in developing a support group for family members of adults hospitalized in a surgical ICU to meet their predetermined needs. The support needs of family members and the timing of a support group during the critical care phase must first be validated. Once this assessment is completed, the support group may be based on the educational model, mutual-peer support model, educational-mutual support model, or ventilation model. The group model selected will provide direction to the structure, membership, and leadership of the support group. Regardless of the model considered appropriate for the needs of the family population and setting, critical care nurses need to evaluate the impact of the support group on the psychologic health of the family. The four different group perspectives clearly illustrate the need for nurses to determine what types of support are needed or are most beneficial for families during various phases of illness. Perhaps family members benefit from sharing and camaraderie during the acute or critical care phase, whereas educational support groups are more effective in reviewing illness and treatment implications after the immediate threat of the illness has passed. Findings from these evaluation studies will assist nurses in shaping intervention strategies for critical care family members in clinical practice.