Data associated with the PLoS ONE publication 'Evaluation of a strategy for enrolling the families of critically ill patients in research using limited human resources' by Turnbull et al. 2017

We want to know if patient activation interventions can be adapted to help the friends and family members who choose to speak for incapacitated ICU patients. These friends and family members are called proxies. As a first step in this process, we conducted a Phase I study in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore, Maryland. More information about this project can be accessed at www.piperscience.org/proxy-activation . This dataset includes data and codebook for the study associated with the cited PLOS one publication. Certain variables in the public access version of the data were broadened and variables detailing patient and proxy relationships are not included to reduce identity disclosure risk. These may be obtained by direct request with approval by investigators local IRBs. Rationale: Clinical trials of interventions aimed at the families of intensive care unit (ICU) patients have proliferated but recruitment for these trials can be challenging. Objectives: To evaluate a strategy for recruiting families of patients currently being treated in an ICU using limited human resources and time-varying daily screening over 7 consecutive days Methods: We screened the Johns Hopkins Hospital medical ICU census 7 days per week to identify eligible family members. We then made daily, in-person attempts to enroll eligible families during a time-varying 2-hour enrollment period until families declined participation, consented, or were no longer eligible.