Adams TN, North CS. Psychological first aid in the intensive care unit. World J Crit Care Med 2025; 14(2): 98939 [DOI: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i2.98939]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Traci N Adams, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75390, United States. traci.adams@utsouthwestern.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Critical Care Medicine
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Crit Care Med. Jun 9, 2025; 14(2): 98939 Published online Jun 9, 2025. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i2.98939
Psychological first aid in the intensive care unit
Traci N Adams, Carol S North
Traci N Adams, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, United States
Carol S North, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, The Altshuler Center for Education and Research at Metrocare Services, Dallas, TX 75390, United States
Author contributions: Adams TN and North CS contributed to conceptualizing, writing, and editing the manuscript; all of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors do not have any conflicts of interest to report.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Traci N Adams, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75390, United States. traci.adams@utsouthwestern.edu
Received: July 9, 2024 Revised: November 27, 2024 Accepted: December 16, 2024 Published online: June 9, 2025 Processing time: 232 Days and 18.2 Hours
Abstract
The intensive care unit (ICU) is a stressful environment for patients and their families as well as healthcare workers (HCWs). Distress, which is a negative emotional or physical response to a stressor is common in the ICU. Psychological first aid (PFA) is a form of mental health assistance provided in the immediate aftermath of disasters or other critical incidents to address acute distress and re-establish effective coping and functioning. The aim of this narrative review is to inform the development and utilization of PFA by HCWs in the ICU to reduce the burden of distress among patients, caregivers, and HCWs. This is the first such review to apply PFA to the ICU setting.
Core Tip: Psychological first aid is a form of mental health assistance provided in the immediate aftermath of disasters or other critical incidents to address acute distress and re-establish effective coping and functioning. It can be applied in the intensive care unit setting to patients, families, and healthcare workers.
