Follow-up for Survivors of Cardiac Critical Illness: Winning Hearts and Minds

Abstract

Survival to transition from the intensive care unit (ICU) to ward- or home-based care is usually only the beginning of a much longer period of recovery for patients, and often a time of considerable uncertainty for their families and caregivers. The consequences of critical illness, and the subsequent effect on physical, psychological, and social well-being, often reach far beyond the primary insult.