Advance directives

Aims and objective: Advance care planning (ACP) is the communication process of documenting future healthcare preferences in case patients are unable to make healthcare decisions for themselves. Research suggests ACP discussions among persons living with HIV (PLHIV) are infrequent overall and may differ by gender and/or race. Background: Previous literature has displayed that African Americans are less likely than other racial groups to use advanced care planning, palliative care or hospice, but does not conclusively account for ACP among PLHIV.

Objectives: To describe communication regarding cancer patient's end-of-life (EoL) wishes by physicians and family caregivers. Methods: An online questionnaire and telephone-based surveys were performed with physicians and family caregivers respectively in three teaching hospitals in Colombia which had been involved in the EoL care of cancer patients. Results: For 138 deceased patients we obtained responses from physicians and family caregivers.

Background and Objectives: African-American family caregivers may have insufficient knowledge to make informed end-of-life (EOL) decisions for relatives with dementias. Advance Care Treatment Plan (ACT-Plan) is a community-based education intervention to enhance knowledge of dementia and associated EOL medical treatments, self-efficacy, intentions, and behavior (written EOL care plan). This study evaluated efficacy of the intervention compared to attention control.

Background: Advance care planning (ACP) facilitates identification and documentation of patients' treatment preferences. Its goal aligns with that of palliative care – optimizing quality of life of seriously ill patients. However, concepts of ACP and palliative care remain poorly recognized in Chinese population. This study aims at exploring barriers to ACP from perspective of seriously ill patients and their family caregivers. Methods: This is a qualitative study conducted in a Palliative Day Care Centre of Hong Kong between October 2016 and July 2017.

Background: Family members are involved in the decision-making process of advance care planning (ACP). However, there is limited evidence about how family caregiving situations affect engagement in ACP. Objective: To understand how agreement on caregiving situations and caregiving burdens are predictive of engagement in ACP of older adults. Design: Cross-sectional secondary data. Setting/Subjects: Subjects were nationally representative of adults ages 65 or older from the National Health and Aging Trends Study.

Background: Advance directives could be an important instrument to support a person's will once he/she is not able to consent anymore - if composed competently. A survey was conducted to identify the level of knowledge concerning possibilities and limits of advance directives.; Methods: The study was conducted as part of the Bavarian Dementia Survey (BayDem). Data were collected from January 2014 to December 2015 by structured face-to-face interviews.