Interventions for surrogate decision-making by families of ICU patients: a scoping review

NIU Haijiao; LUAN Lina; ZHU Jinsong

doi:10.16460/j.issn2097-6569.2025.13.032

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Journal of Nursing ›› 2025, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (13) : 32-38. DOI: 10.16460/j.issn2097-6569.2025.13.032

Interventions for surrogate decision-making by families of ICU patients: a scoping review

NIU Haijiao¹, LUAN Lina¹, ZHU Jinsong²

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Abstract

Objective To conduct a scoping review of research on interventions for surrogate decision-making by families of ICU patients, and to summarize the content and form of intervention, outcome and intervention effect. Methods China National Knowledge Network (CNKI), Wanfang, VIP database, China Biomedical Abstracted Database, Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, Ovid, EBSCO and Cochrane Library were searched for related literature from the inception of databases to July 20, 2024. The data were screened and extracted, and the search results were standardized and reported. Results Thirty-one studies were included. The content of surrogate decision-making included psychological intervention and decision information. The main forms of intervention were online decision aid tools, family meetings, advance care planning, decision lists and information manuals. The evaluation of intervention effect included psychological assessment of surrogate decision maker, effectiveness of surrogate decision-making tools, implementation effect of surrogate decision-making and effect of surrogate decision-making on health outcome of ICU patients. Conclusion Surrogate decision intervention scheme for family members of ICU patients is highly feasible, but its practical effect needs to be further verified. The interventions are diverse in form. In the future, personalized intervention designs and implementation should be tailored to the individual characteristics of surrogate decision-makers.

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intensive care unit / surrogate decision-making / intervention / scoping review

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NIU Haijiao, LUAN Lina, ZHU Jinsong. Interventions for surrogate decision-making by families of ICU patients: a scoping review[J]. Journal of Nursing. 2025, 32(13): 32-38 https://doi.org/10.16460/j.issn2097-6569.2025.13.032

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