Halpern, Scott D.

Background: Despite increased emphasis on providing higher-quality patient- and family-centered care in the intensive care unit (ICU), there are no widely accepted definitions of such care in the ICU. Objectives: To determine (1) aspects of care that patients and families valued during their ICU encounter, (2) outcomes that patients and families prioritized after hospital discharge, and (3) outcomes perceived as equivalent to or worse than death.