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Roof Garden Research Program

This page describes the ICU Roof Garden Research Program in King's Critical Care. We hope that any research is highly translatable to the wider NHS and beyond. 

Our questions

Does the ICU Roof Garden reduce length of stay?

Does the ICU roof garden reduce delirium?

Does the ICU Roof Garden improve long-term physical, cognitive & psychological outcomes?

Does the ICU Roof garden lead to health economic benefits?

How do healthcare professionals, patients and families think we should use the roof garden?

Which patients should go into the garden?

How early in the critical illness can patients go outside?

How long should patients be outside for?

Our Intervention -The Outside ICU

Planting

Planting needs to be csrefully designed to support the research intervention

How we will answer these questions

- The FRESH AIR research Program

Phase I -Mixed Methods Observational

The first part of the roof garden research program is to perform a mixed methods baseline exercise to establish the views and opinions of patients, relatives and staff as to how the roof garden should be used. This will occur in the period leading up to Garden Go Live as well as during safety testing and pilot visits to the garden. 

Phase II - Feasibility

In the feasibility part of the FRESHAIR Program, the trial team will design and develop the protocol;  intervention; and test safety. They will also get feedback from staff, patients and relatives about the intervention, planned primary outcome measure; and planned secondary outcome measures. 

Phase III - Step-Wedge Randomised Controlled Trial

In the randomised controlled trial part of FRESHAIR, patients will become eligible to go to roof garden unit by unit using step-wedge methodology. The primary outcome measure will be length of clinical ICU stay. Secondary outcome measures will including mortality; incidence/severity/length of delirium; sedation use; length of hospital stay and long-term outcomes focused on neuro-cognitive recovery, psychological recovery and physical recovery. 

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King's Critical Care, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS

0203 299 1432

© 2035 by Dr Phil Hopkins, Research Lead, King's Critical Care

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