Cheng, S. Y.

Background: In the palliative care setting, infection control measures implemented due to COVID-19 have become barriers to end-of-life care discussions (eg, discharge planning and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments) between patients, their families, and multidisciplinary medical teams. Strict restrictions in terms of visiting hours and the number of visitors have made it difficult to arrange in-person family conferences. Phone-based telehealth consultations may be a solution, but the lack of nonverbal cues may diminish the clinician-patient relationship.

Background: The Western individualistic understanding of autonomy for advance care planning is considered not to reflect the Asian family-centered approach in medical decision-making. The study aim is to compare preferences on timing for advance care planning initiatives and life-sustaining treatment withdrawal between terminally-ill cancer patients and their family caregivers in Taiwan.