The following is a summary of “Use of the 3 Wishes Project to Help Individualize End-of-Life Care in a Medical Intensive Care Unit,” published in the January 2024 issue of Critical Care by Harrison et al.

Individualized end-of-life (EOL) care lacks a standard, but the 3 Wishes Project offers a framework to achieve this through 3 chosen wishes, aiming to dignify death, celebrate life, and support loved ones and clinicians.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate whether the 3 Wishes Project empowered the medical team to deliver personalized EOL care.

They utilized the Iowa Model for this evidence-driven initiative. It was executed within the medical ICU of an academic medical center. Results were evaluated using both qualitative and quantitative data analysis.

The results showed 57 deceased patients during the 2 months of implementation,  with 32 wish forms, 31 patients participated while 1 declined; overall, patient participation stood at 56%. The top 5 wishes included cloth hearts, blankets, heartbeat printouts, fingerprints and handprints, and music. The project incurred a total cost of $992, with an average price per wish of $6.98. While 85%(33 of 39) of medical team respondents agreed the project supported consistent personalized EOC.

Investigators concluded that the 3 Wishes Project aids personalized EOL care and recommends its bedside implementation.

Source: aacnjournals.org/ajcconline/article/33/1/9/32267/Use-of-the-3-Wishes-Project-to-Help-Individualize