FICUS Study
FICUS – For Families in the Intensive Care Unit
The FICUS research project explores how families can be comprehensively supported by nursing staff and the entire care team during this exceptional situation. At its core is a new, family-focused care model delivered by specially trained nurses in collaboration with the interprofessional ICU team.
This model is being thoroughly examined in four interconnected studies:
Effectiveness Study:
This study investigates whether the new care model improves the quality of support (satisfaction, communication, assistance) provided by the treatment team, reduces the burden and negative mental health effects on relatives, and strengthens the family’s ability to cope with the situation.
Qualitative Evaluation with Family Members:
To understand how families experience the care model, interviews were conducted with family members. Their experiences and perspectives help refine and further develop the model from the viewpoint of those directly affected.
Implementation Study with Healthcare Professionals:
This multi-phase study examines how the model can be put into practice, which factors facilitated or hindered its introduction, and what will be needed in the future to ensure it becomes sustainably embedded in ICU routines.
Health Economic Evaluation:
This analysis evaluates whether the new care model is also economically viable – for the healthcare system, for society, and for the families themselves.
Together, these four studies provide a comprehensive picture:
How can we support families in intensive care units in a targeted, evidence-based, and collaborative way – and what conditions and structures are necessary to make this possible?
Partner
Principal Investigators
- Ursula Betschart, Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen, Switzerland
- Philipp Bühler, Center of Intensive Care Medicine, Cantonal Hospital Winterthur, Switzerland
- Hanna Burkhalter, Department of Nursing and Specialist Support, Nursing Development, Cantonal Hospital Graubünden, Chur, Switzerland
- Alexander Dullenkopf, Institute for Anesthesia, Cantoncal Hospital Frauenfeld, Switzerland
- Antje Heise, Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Thun, Switzerland
- Benjamin Hertler, Institute of Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Marie-Madlen Jeitziner, Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Switzerland
- Yvonne Keller, Nurse Development Department, Cantonal Hospital Baden, Switzerland
- Fabienne Lussmann, Center of Intensive Care Medicine, Lucerne Cantonal Hospital, Switzerland
- Paola Massarotto, Institute of Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Urs Pietsch, Division of Perioperative Intensive Care Medicine, Cantonal Hospital St.Gallen, Switzerland
- Esther Siegrist, Institute of Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Peter Steiger, Institute of Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Christoph von Dach, Department of Nursing, Cantonal Hospital Olten, Switzerland
- Monique Wenzler, Institute of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Hirslanden Clinic Zurich, Switzerland
- Jan Wiegand, Intensive Care Unit, Lindenhof Hospital, Bern, Switzerland
