HvA researcher develops protocol for post intensive care treatment
PhD student and Physiotherapy lecturer at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) Mel Major has come up with a new protocol to set out the way patients who survive intensive care should be treated once discharged from hospital.
Every year in the Netherlands 85.000 patients receive intensive care treatment. Of these, 25.000 suffer from so called ‘post intensive care syndrome’ resulting in physical and psychological problems such as depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSS) and cognitive problems such as loss of memory up to five years after treatment.
So far there has been no consensus reached by scientists on how best to treat post intensive care syndrome and hospitals do not follow standard protocols.
No protocol exists to direct health care providers how to take care of these patients, Mel Major says. Ten international experts were asked to participate in an expert panel. Through a so-called Delphi consensus methodology the experts formulated recommendations with regards to the optimal physical therapy treatment and a protocol was developed.
Protocol
Major’s protocol lays out the most effective physiotherapeutic interventions as well as a methodology to measure the improvement of health of the patients. It also prescribes previously overlooked treatments such as special dietary care.
The protocol will not be applied in Dutch hospitals, because it is meant for the private practice. Major and her colleagues will however first conduct a feasibility study in Amsterdam hospitals and physiotherapy centres.
Update, Thursday 11 am: Major has won the HvA Research Award, the yearly prize for outstanding research at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences on Wednesday. Read more about here (in Dutch).
