James Lind Alliance PSP for Intensive Care Research

Our top 10 Research Priorities 

The Intensive Care Society is proud to announce the publication of the top 10 research priorities for intensive care, delivered in partnership with the James Lind Alliance (JLA) Priority Setting Partnership (PSP). The priorities are a huge step forward in supporting the establishment of a clear and collaborative roadmap for future life-saving research.

Over the last year, we have worked alongside National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the JLA to identify the most pressing research questions in intensive care.

The top ten priorities are as follows:

1. What are the best ways to prevent, lessen or treat delirium (confusion and changes in awareness) in ICU, using medicines and non-medicine strategies tailored to individual needs?
2. What are the best ways to promote psychological and emotional recovery after ICU discharge for patients with Post-Traumatic Stress or other psychological consequences of critical illness?    
3. How can Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) be prevented, and if it occurs, what are the best treatments, rehabilitation and support for recovery and quality of life after ICU?
4. How can new knowledge, treatments, therapies, and technologies be quickly and safely brought into (implemented) ICU care, while stopping outdated practices like heavy sedation and routine use of mucus clearing drugs (drugs used to clear secretions from airways)?
5. What are the best ways to improve discharge from ICU to ensure continuity of care and patient support, including sharing of information?
6. What are the best ways to support ICU patients who are struggling to communicate to improve psychological wellbeing and recovery?
7. How can the ICU environment be adjusted to improve experience and outcomes for patients and families? For example, noise levels, natural light, interruptions to sleep, time awareness, access to a garden?
8. What are the best ways to enable the presence of family/friends in the ICU, and/or their involvement in care?
9. How can access to follow-up and rehabilitation services after ICU be provided, including with community and primary care?
10.  How can early and accurate diagnosis and treatment of infection in ICU be improved to distinguish infection from non-infectious inflammation?

With support from the NIHR, this project is empowering the intensive care community to shape the research agenda and ensure that future studies reflect the issues that matter most to those directly affected.

 

Meet the Team

The Intensive Care Society has brought together a team of clinical leaders and public representatives to guide the ICS JLA Priority Setting Partnership. Professor Louise Rose (King’s College London), Professor Charlotte Summers (University of Cambridge), and Professor Sarah Wallace (Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust) are leading the project, with representation from both the Society and NIHR.

We are also working in collaboration with wider organisations and networks across the UK to ensure the partnership reflects the diversity and complexity of intensive care. Supporting the project are JLA Advisor, Maryrose Tarpey and the JLA Information Specialist Toto Gronlund, who will bring their expertise in facilitating inclusive, transparent priority-setting processes.

A dedicated steering group — made up of equal numbers of patient/family representatives and healthcare professionals — oversees the work. This group reflects a broad range of experience, including variations in geography, clinical background, lived experience, and professional roles, ensuring a fair and inclusive approach to identifying what matters most in intensive care research.

About the James Lind Alliance

What is the James Lind Alliance?

The James Lind Alliance (JLA) is a non-profit making initiative bringing patients, carers and clinicians together in JLA Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs). JLA PSPs identify and prioritise unanswered questions that they agree are the most important, so that researchers and funders are aware of the issues that matter most to the people who need to use the research in their everyday lives.

 

The Intensive Care JLA PSP will be conducted in accordance with JLA guidelines. For further details, please refer to the JLA Guidebook.

 

Top 10 Research Priorities (from 2014)

These priorities were developed over a decade ago through a national James Lind Alliance priority setting process involving patients, family members, and healthcare staff. The findings were published in the Journal of the Intensive Care Society.

Now, with the landscape of critical care changing significantly, we are working to refresh these priorities to ensure they reflect today’s challenges, innovations, and hopes.

Top 3

1. How can patients who may benefit from intensive care be identified early and admitted to the ICU at the right time?

2. How can patients and their families be best supported as they start living at home again (e.g. health and social care services, ICU support groups, long term follow-up)?

3. What is the best way to identify patients with, or at risk of delirium or agitation – how should the immediate and long term effects of delirium or agitation be monitored and managed?

   Other high priorities identified (in no order of priority):

   • What is the best way to prevent, diagnose and treat hospital acquired infection (e.g. ventilator associated pneumonia, blood stream infections related to the use of invasive lines)?
   • When should physical rehabilitation start and what rehabilitation methods during and after critical illness achieve the best outcomes for patients?
   • How can we enhance patient comfort during Intensive Care (i.e. minimise pain, discomfort, agitation and anxiety) and does this improve patient outcome?
   • How can the physical consequences of critical illness (such as muscle wasting, weakness, nerve damage) be prevented and what is the best way to support recovery from these after intensive care?
   • What psychological support should be provided for patients in Intensive Care?
   • How can we predict who will benefit from intensive care before admission and during treatment in the ICU?
   • What is the best way of ensuring new knowledge and the latest defined standards are introduced into clinical practice in a timely and effective way?
   • How can we use the experiences of patients and families to improve intensive care?
   • What is the best way of preventing damage to the lungs of patients receiving respiratory support (ventilation)?

    

 

 

Get in Touch

📧 research@ics.ac.uk

Whether you're a former patient, a family member, or a healthcare professional work in critical care - we’d love to hear from you.

Intensive Care Society | Supported by NIHR