title: [Development of an attention guideline for the critical patient's family].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Within the context of participatory action research (PAR) at an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 4 proposals for change were agreed by consensus to improve the attention given to families of critical patients. One proposal was the creation of a guideline for attending to family members, inspired by the participants' desire to improve the attention given to this group of users.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  1) To design a guide that would meet the needs of professionals and users. 2) To reach an agreement on the minimum requirements for attention given to families of critical patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative methodology, based on PAR. For each of the initiatives, a working group was created, composed mainly of professionals from the ICU coordinated by a researcher. In the case of the guide, an online community was also created as a working tool to speed up communications among the participants, reducing the number of face-to-face sessions. Participation was voluntary. To draft the guideline, a Clinical Practice Guideline for support the family was made available, which had been translated into Spanish, together with an up-to-date bibliography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty four professionals were involved. We developed a guide that contained the following sections: introduction, objectives, the experiences and needs of families of patients in the ICU, strategies for action, specific procedures, and hospital resources. We designed strategies for the diffusion and implementation of the guide.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The guide is a useful tool that offers the professionals greater assurances and unifying criteria for action. During subsequent stages of the PAR project, an assessment will be made of the impact on professionals and users.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital Universitario Son Dureta, Palma de Mallorca, Islas Baleares, España. anagmozo@yahoo.es
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García Mozo
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sánchez Roldán
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Amorós Cerdá
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Balaguer Albarracín
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Díez Alcalde
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Durán Torres
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: González Gascue
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lastra Cubel
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sánchez Calvín
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zaforteza Lallemand
mesh_terms: D016638:Critical Illness; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic