Social Representations of Intensive Care Unit as held by ICU Patients' Families

This paper discusses the findings of a socio-psychological qualitative study that examined the social representation that families of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients share about the ICU and the underlying themata that constitute this representation. The sample consisted of thirteen people (eleven women and two men) whose family members had been hospitalized in ICUs and were in a recovery phase during the interviewing period. Semi-structured interviews were conducted focusing on individual and family experiences of the ICU. The transcribed interviews were thematically analysed. ICU representation was found to be structured and organized around four themes: safety, danger, proximity and distance. These themes are discussed as themata, consisting of dialogic interdependent antinomies, chiefly those of safety versus precariousness and proximity versus distance. The implications of this representation for the support of ICU patients' families and communication with the ICU patients and staff are discussed.