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Table 4 Entries related to the ICU diary being Accepted and Appreciated

From: Intensive care unit (ICU) diaries and the experiences of patients’ families: a grounded theory approach in a lower middle-income country (LMIC)

Themes

Concepts

Entries

New concept

Appreciative the novelty of concept

1A BROTHER: I like the cover, protection design and photos.

9A BROTHER: It’s a great idea and effort.

15B SISTER: It is like a gift from the hospital.

15C BROTHER: As it is a new thing, it feels good.

15B SISTER: A new experience for me. I thank my sister (the ICU patient) that

because of her I could experience something like this.

Reliving (Photographs)

1C BROTHER: I liked my brother’s photo.

Others: Reminded me how he came back from the ‘mouth of death’

A feeling of continuity

3B SISTER: It had been printed like a magazine.

Others: It is like a daily television serial, story unfolding.

For me it is a newspaper telling me of my loved one

A book about my brother!

Exploring colours and creative writing material

9B SISTER: Colored papers are attractive. Creative writing material

9B SISTER: Colored photos are attractive.

9C SISTER: I have written in colored pen and paper like senior doctors and nurses.

28B Daughter: I have written about the coloured paper and colored pen to my father.

Emotional Support

Unburdening Oneself

1C SISTER: As I could express myself so I felt light.

3B DAUGHTER: Before and during writing I cried. After entry I felt unburdened.

7A WIFE: I felt I could express my emotion and feelings directly in front of him.

8A SON: I have written everything emotionally and this helped me feel light /unburdened.

9B SISTER: I felt very happy and unburdened. But during writing I felt like crying.

16B BROTHER: Felt relieved and unburdened by writing in it.

Express Deep Hopes and faith

3B DAUGHTER: I wrote about father’s recovery and how I want father to get well soon.

1B BROTHER: I just need him to be a good human and live a healthy life for his family.

7A WIFE: I wrote that he should get better because I want him to improve with everyone’s efforts.

7B BROTHER: I wrote encouraging words for my brother to get better.

18A DAUGHTER: Hope of mother’s recovery.

Assuage Guilt

18A SON: I had written all my feelings about my mother; I want to be a good son of her.

31A DAUGHTER: Felt shy to write. If I had written everything, I would have asked for her forgiveness

because I have many fights with mother, good or bad. When she was in ICU, I missed these times.