This year, the Post-ICU team attended and presented at a very important event – ElevatePX in Denver. ELEVATE PX is a conference that brings together those committed to improving the human experience in healthcare. Since this is one of the main goals for the Post-ICU Digital Diary, our team was eager to attend, introduce the Post-ICU diary and learn about other initiatives to elevate patient experience.
Day 1 - Set Up Done and Ready to Chat
Day 2 - Seth's Presentation
Day 2 at Elevate Px was off to a great start! Seth van der Meer, Post-ICU CEO, hosted a fantastic breakout session on how Post-ICU, the Digital Diary that Cares integrates family-centered care with the empathetic approach of narrative medicine. The presentation engaged the audience from start to finish.
During our discussions on the complex grief often intertwined with Post Intensive Care Syndrome-Family (PICS-F), participants shared touching stories that highlighted feelings of helplessness in the ICU while also expressing remarkable displays of love and resilience.
- One participant, a mother who experienced the NICU journey with her newborn, recounted the whirlwind of events and stress during that time. Reflecting on her experience, she wishes she had been encouraged to preserve precious memories and the encouraging messages from nurses, recognizing the potential empowerment this could have provided during such a challenging period.
- Another participant, a nurse and ICU survivor, approached us later to share her story. She described how sedatives caused her to lose complete track of events. Later and during her recovery, her family struggled to piece together the missing details of her care. She wished they had been provided with a structured approach for documenting and tracking her journey – “I believe I could have recovered faster.” she said.
Learnings and Post-ICU Future
These stories remind us of the silent struggles faced by ICU patients and their families and the need for support systems that recognize the emotional and psychological aftermath.
It is Post-ICU’s commitment to create spaces for healing and conversation, ensuring that families know they are not alone.
Visiting ElevatePX, talking to ICU survivors as well as hearing other voices committed to improving patient experience, truly inspired us to continue working on our mission of making the ICU a better place for everyone.
We thank everyone who engaged with us and participated in Seth’s breakout session.
For those who missed Seth’s session – you can now access the complete presentation on our website!
