Prof. Leanne Aitken: Helping patients to recover psychological health after critical illness

Approximately 1/3 of survivors of critical illness experience psychological compromise during recovery. Although the pattern of this compromise varies for individual patients, we can monitor and minimise factors in ICU that might make this worse for patients, and also improve our care to reduce problems during recovery. Interventions to be delivered within ICU that might be of benefit include sedation minimisation, sleep improvement, early mobility and psychological support. Interventions to be considered after ICU include information provision and follow-up support.