Implications for practice and research

• Critical care units should prioritise family presence, particularly for awake patients or those who develop delirium.

• Further research should elucidate the mechanisms through which family presence is protective to brain health in critical illness.

Context

The implications of family presence during critical illness on clinical and psychosocial outcomes remain of great social, scientific and operational interest. Existing experimental and observational evidence demonstrates that policies supporting family presence decrease the prevalence and duration of delirium among patients with critical illness.1 Delirium is a fluctuating change in consciousness that occurs frequently among critically ill patients and is associated with poor outcomes. This study by Mohsen et al 2 expands on this …