Post ICU reception

The structure of post ICU reception following ICU may occur in various forms, and in some ICUs it missing it completely

For SIR, the objective of after-care activities for you and your close relatives is to help and support you in gaining a good health-related quality of life after intensive care through:

  • giving you the opportunity to talk about the hospital stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) with intensive care staff who have knowledge and understanding of the business
  • identifying the physical and psychological problems related to intensive care
  • offering you support, information and advice, as well as
  • returning knowledge to the operations, which can generate changes in care and treatment routines that affect patient wellbeing (both during and after intensive care) and recovery

How does this happen?

If you were admitted to the ICU, you will be called to the after-care clinic for some time after discharge from the ICU. Feel free to bring a relative. At the after-care clinic, you can talk to the staff of the ICU. They jointly review your journal from your hospital stay, and you will be given the opportunity to discuss issues regarding your care and treatment.

Diary

At some ICUs, a diary is written during the hospital stay. The diary can help you to remember, but also give you a better understanding of how it was during the time that you may not remember so much about. In the diary, there can for example be photographs that can help you get a clearer picture of what it was like to have been admitted to the ICU. The images may also help to clarify that the unreal experiences and dreams that you may have had often have nothing to do with reality.

More visits if needed

If needed, you and your loved one may return to the after-care clinic after another few months. For children under 16 years of age, SIR has no specific follow-up program.

Health-related quality of life

As an additional part of our follow-up procedure, SIR also recommends measuring your health-related quality of life through a health survey. The survey focuses on how your health status, such as illness or disability, affects your quality of life. The result of it is also the basis for the consultation at the after-care clinic. To monitor your health trends over time, you will be asked to fill out the health survey on a few later occasions. If you choose not to come to the after-care clinic, we can instead send the health survey to your home by mail. In addition to monitoring your health over time, the health survey is used to at the group level determine how effective the treatment in intensive care is, with the aim to improve intensive care for patients and operations.

Relatives

Relatives can attend an after-care visit if the patient so wishes, or if the intensive care staff assesses that it is of value or necessary for the patient. Some ICUs may invite the relatives of the deceased person to a visit to the after-care clinic (in connection with the handover of diaries and photos)