Enhancing & Mobilizing the POtential for Wellness & Emotional Resilience Among Surrogate Decision-Makers of ICU Patients

"EMPOWER is a manualized treatment delivered based in cognitive behavioral and acceptance and commitment therapies delivered by a trained mental health professional that utilizes breathing and grounding exercises, mindfulness meditation, psychoeducation, imaginal dialogue with the patient, and coping rehearsal techniques.~The total amount of time EMPOWER intervention is about 90 minutes, about 15 minutes each module. It can either be administered in one session or many sessions to accommodate the dynamic nature of ICU, and has two booster follow-up calls (roughly 45 minutes each) in the month following initial treatment."

Enhanced usual care consists of standard ICU psychosocial support for caregivers like social work, chaplaincy, or palliative care team visits as charted in the patient's medical record. Participants assigned to EUC will also receive a general information guide for caregivers as well as a site-specific list of caregiver resources.