The L.O.V.E. program does not include routinely
encouraging families to participate in patient care; instead,
families who spontaneously express a wish to participate
are allowed to do so. Because we felt that encouraging
family participation in care may be warranted [8,9], we
conducted this study to determine how families, ICU staff,
and patients perceived family participation in patient care,
to evaluate the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and
depression in family members and to measure family
satisfaction with care.