Evaluating the impact of a standardised intervention for announcing decisions of withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatments on the stress of relatives in emergency departments (DISCUSS): protocol for a stepped-wedge randomised controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The decisions of withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatments are difficult to make in the context of emergency departments (EDs) because most patients are unable to communicate. Relatives are thus asked to participate in the decision-making process, although they are unprepared to face such situations. We therefore aimed to develop a standardised intervention for announcing decisions of withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatments in EDs and assess the efficacy of the intervention on the stress of relatives.

Methods and analysis

The DISCUSS trial is a multicentre stepped-wedge cluster randomised study and will be conducted at nine EDs in France. A standardised intervention based on human simulation will be codesigned with partner families and

SUBMITTER: Termoz A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11381699 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature