Intensive Care Decision-making, Survival and Dying Well: How ICU Patients' Experiences and End-of-life Wishes Affect Their Willingness to Accept Intensive Care Treatment at Different Survival Chances

What this Trial Is About

This research aims to understand how the experiences of patients who survived intensive care and their wishes for end-of-life care influence their willingness to undergo intensive care treatment again at different chances of survival. It focuses on the ethical question of when intensive care treatment is justifiable, considering both the chance of survival and the potential suffering during treatment. The study highlights the distressing memories many intensive care survivors have and explores how these experiences relate to patients' preferences for future care and survival chances. The study involves participants who have previously been admitted to intensive care units. They will complete a questionnaire and participate in an interview either in person or via Zoom, depending on their convenience and access to technology. The study will be conducted over two years, recruiting participants from intensive care review clinics and support groups. There are no investigational treatments; instead, the focus is on gathering detailed personal experiences and preferences related to intensive care. Participants will share their memories and reflections on intensive care treatment and discuss their willingness to accept such treatment again based on different survival chances and potential declines in quality of life. Researchers will collect this information through interviews and questionnaires. The study aims to measure the survival chances that would make participants willing to undergo intensive care again and to better inform ethical decisions about intensive care treatments. The total duration of participation is up to two years, with assessments occurring at participants' convenience.

Intensive Care Decision-making, Survival and Dying Well