The admission of a critically ill patient to an intensive care unit (ICU) is a distressing event for the patient, their family and friends, which has been amplified by the impact of the covid-19 pandemic.

Many hospitals now prohibit visits by all relatives and friends for all patients, sometimes even when a patient is dying.

The consequent inability to see, touch, and talk to loved ones increases the burden of critical illness on families.

The lack of face-to-face communication has also greatly changed the dynamic of interactions between healthcare providers and families.

These changes affect how we communicate with families, and could have long lasting impacts for patients who survive an ICU admission, their families, and healthcare providers in ICUs.

Under normal circumstances, there is great uncertainty about the course and outcome of critical illness.

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