The Use of a Prayer Tree to Support the Emotional and Spiritual Needs of Visitors to Critical Care Units in the Deep South Region of the United States

ObjectivesThis study aims to understand specific spiritual expressions by visitors of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) made through an inclusive art installation called a Prayer Tree.MethodsThe Prayer Tree was a two-dimensional plastic or painted tree affixed to a window in the ICU waiting area. Waiting areas of the neuroscience ICU and the trauma-burn ICU at a tertiary care hospital had a Prayer Tree. Visitors wrote a prayer, a hope, or a wish on a piece of paper for their relatives and friends who were patients in an ICU and hung it on a Prayer Tree. These notes were collected between the beginning of 2018 to mid-July 2023. All notes (N = 3673) were compiled and subjected to qualitative analysis.ResultsNotes were categorized into seven themes: Healing, Faith, Love, Thankfulness, Encouragement, Grief, and Prayer of Acknowledgement. The predominant spiritual expressions in the notes were prayers requesting healing by a higher power, faith, love, and thankfulness.ConclusionThe large number of notes left on the Prayer Tree indicates that many visitors chose to engage with the Prayer Tree. Themes of prayers identified in this study align with similar prayer themes in related studies. Findings from this study support that an art-based art environmental intervention in the form of a Prayer Tree to ICU waiting areas provides a needed outlet for visitors' emotional and spiritual expression. By identifying commonly expressed themes among ICU visitors, this study has enhanced understanding of their spiritual needs and expressions.