A Randomized Comparative Trial to Evaluate a PICU Navigator-Based Parent Support Intervention

Communication breakdowns in PICUs contribute to inadequate parent support and poor post-PICU parent outcomes. No interventions supporting communication have demonstrated improvements in parental satisfaction or psychologic morbidity. We compared parent-reported outcomes from parents receiving a navigator-based parent support intervention (PICU Supports) with those from parents receiving an informational brochure.

Patient-level, randomized trial.

Two university-based, tertiary-care children's hospital PICUs.

Parents of patients requiring more than 24 hours in the PICU.

PICU Supports included adding a trained navigator to the patient's healthcare team. Trained navigators met with parents and team members to assess and address communication, decision-making, emotional, informational, and discharge or end-of-life care needs; offered weekly family meetings; and did a post-PICU discharge parent check-in. The comparator arm received an informational brochure providing information about PICU procedures, terms, and healthcare providers.

The primary outcome was percentage of "excellent" responses to the Pediatric Family Satisfaction in the ICU 24 decision-making domain obtained 3-5 weeks following PICU discharge. Secondary outcomes included parental psychologic and physical morbidity and perceptions of team communication. We enrolled 382 families: 190 received PICU Supports, and 192 received the brochure. Fifty-seven percent (216/382) completed the 3-5 weeks post-PICU discharge survey. The mean percentage of excellent responses to the Pediatric Family Satisfaction in the ICU 24 decision-making items was 60.4% for PICU Supports versus 56.1% for the brochure (estimate, 3.57; SE, 4.53; 95% CI, -5.77 to 12.90; p = 0.44). Differences in secondary outcomes were not statistically significant. Most parents (91.1%; 113/124) described PICU Supports as "extremely" or "somewhat" helpful.

Parents who received PICU Supports rated the intervention positively. Differences in decision-making satisfaction scores between those receiving PICU Supports and a brochure were not statistically significant. Interventions like PICU Supports should be evaluated in larger studies employing enhanced recruitment and retention of subjects.