Integrated Care for Survivors of Critical Illness

Abstract: Advances in critical care medicine and a rapidly aging population have shifted our attention to optimizing patients' survivorship trajectories, where the study and implementation of follow-up services are lacking. Critical illness is now conceptualized as a continuum of disease that is influenced by a variety of factors: premorbid psychosocial functioning, the acute illness state, critical care iatrogenesis, social support, and follow-up infrastructure. Over half of ICU survivors will acquire Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) – a constellation of downstream psychiatric, neuro-cognitive, or physical impairments.

As ICU survivors comprise a mixed population with varying difficulties and experiences, attention towards characterizing subpopulations at high-risk for downstream morbidity, carefully studying patterns of difficulties following the ICU, and testing individualized interventions will offer further clarity to critical care survivorship. C-L psychiatrists carry a mounting role within this multidisciplinary space of patient care. In this workshop, our panelists will present on the evolving field of ICU survivorship with special attention to particular patient subgroups and innovative practice models and interventions.