{"id":21981,"date":"2025-09-29T15:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T19:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/?p=21981"},"modified":"2025-09-29T15:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T19:42:11","slug":"coma-f-pilot-study-shows-promise-in-supporting-caregivers-of-icu-survivors-with-severe-brain-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/coma-f-pilot-study-shows-promise-in-supporting-caregivers-of-icu-survivors-with-severe-brain-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"COMA-F Pilot Study Shows Promise in Supporting Caregivers of ICU Survivors with Severe Brain Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHAPEL HILL, NC<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Two years after Dr. David Y. Hwang and Dr. Alexander Presciutti received a Neurocritical Care Foundation grant to develop an emotional support intervention for caregivers of patients surviving ICU admission for coma, the results are in\u2014and they\u2019re promising.<\/p>\n

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The multisite pilot study of the Coma Family Program (COMA-F)<\/strong>–led by Drs. Hwang (Division Chief of UNC Neurocritical Care), Presciutti (Mass General Brigham), Melissa Motta (University of Maryland), and Ana-Maria Vranceanu (MGB)\u2014demonstrated strong feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness<\/strong> in reducing emotional distress among caregivers of patients with severe acute brain injury (SABI).<\/p>\n

Addressing a Critical Gap in Care<\/h2>\n

Each year, thousands of Americans are admitted to intensive care units with SABI, often presenting in coma and requiring long-term life-sustaining treatments such as tracheostomy or gastrostomy. Their caregivers face prolonged uncertainty, ambiguous grief, and chronic emotional stress\u2014yet few evidence-based psychosocial interventions exist to support them.<\/p>\n

COMA-F was designed to fill this gap. Adapted from Dr. Vranceanu\u2019s \u201cRecovering Together\u201d program, COMA-F is a six-session, mindfulness-based resilience intervention led by clinically psychologists and tailored specifically for caregivers of patients with SABI. Unlike its predecessor, COMA-F is not dyadic and focuses on managing caregiver burden and emotional distress rather than optimizing recovery.<\/p>\n

Study Design and Outcomes<\/h2>\n

Between February 2024 and February 2025, the team conducted a single-arm open pilot trial across three geographically diverse sites: Massachusetts General Hospital, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and University of Maryland School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

Key findings include:<\/h2>\n