ICUTogether a web based recovery program for intensive care survivors: a randomised control trial

The intervention is a web based recovery program, available to participants on their smart devices. They will have acess to the web based recovery program for 12 months after discharge. The mobile website will provide information about health and wellbeing during recovery and advice about exercise, sleep and nutrition in this population. Information will be provided about the recovery process per se and also detail the signs and symptoms of maladaptation during recovery and when and how participants should seek professional help. The website is not personalised to the participant however they will have access to their own profile page. Participants will be contacted at home via telephone to receive an orientation to the website and the researcher will visit the participant to offer support in initially using the website if required. Participants will be encouraged to journal each day to enable them to reflect on their progress over time but also to explore their thoughts and feelings during recovery however the frequency of use of the website is at the discretion of the participants who will be encouraged to use the site as frequently as they wish. Participants will receive a weekly email summarising their participation over the previous seven days and indicating any days they have not participated along with a prompt to continue participating. Participants will be required to complete a symptom checker each week as well as an electronic journal when they wish to. These and other strategies will make the participants’ interaction with the site more engaging for the duration of the program. On submitting their weekly symptom checker entry an algorithm will be used to determine what message or list of recommended reading the participant will see by the generation of a simple score. An ‘alert’ score can be determined that will trigger an email notification to administrators when any participant submits an entry that reaches a threshold score and therefore gives cause for concern. Participants will not be able to advance through the site unless the symptom checker has been completed at least weekly. A chat room will also be available should participants wish to post items to share with other participants in the study. The chat room will be monitored daily by the researchers who will manage any inappropriate comments by removing them from the chatroom and contacting the participant. The chatroom posts will also help the researchers to identify participants who may be having difficulties and recommend appropriate resources to them based on their posts. An inbuilt trigger word system will also be incorporated into the site to ensure any defamatory or offensive words are identified as soon as they are written and removed from the site.