Awareness Of Advance Directives Research Articles

Awareness of Palliative Care, Hospice Care, and Advance Directives in a Racially and Ethnically Diverse Sample of California Adults.

Numerous studies have documented multilevel racial inequalities in health care utilization, medical treatment, and quality of care in minority populations in the United States. Palliative care for people with serious illness and hospice services for people approaching the end of life are no exception. It is also well established that Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks are more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to have less knowledge about advance care planning and directives, hospice, and palliative care. Both qualitative and quantitative research has identified lack of awareness of palliative and hospice services as one of the major factors contributing to the underuse of these services by minority populations. However, an insufficient number of racial/ethnic comparative studies have been conducted to examine associations among various independent factors in relation to awareness of end-of-life, palliative care and advance care planning and directives. The main objective of this analysis was to examine correlates of awareness of palliative, hospice care and advance directives in a racially and ethnically diverse large sample of California adults. This cross-sectional study includes 2,328 adults: Hispanics (31%); non-Hispanic Blacks (30%); and non-Hispanic Whites (39%) from the Survey of California Adults on Serious Illness and End-of-Life 2019. Using multivariate analysis, we adjusted for demographic and socio-economic variables while estimating the potential independent impact of health status, lack of primary care providers, and recent experiences of participants with a family member with serious illnesses. Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black participants are far less likely to report that they have heard about palliative and hospice care and advance directives than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. In this study, 75%, 74%, and 49% of Hispanics, non-Hispanic Blacks, and non-Hispanic White participants, respectively, claimed that they have never heard about palliative care. Multivariate analysis of data show gender, age, education, and income all significantly were associated with awareness. Furthermore, being engaged with decision making for a loved one with serious illnesses and having a primary care provider were associated with awareness of palliative care and advance directives. Our findings reveal that lack of awareness of hospice and palliative care and advance directives among California adults is largely influenced by race and ethnicity. In addition, demographic and socio-economic variables, health status, access to primary care providers, and having informal care giving experience were all independently associated with awareness of advance directives and palliative and hospice care. These effects are complex, which may be attributed to various historical, social, and cultural mechanisms at the individual, community, and organizational levels. A large number of factors should be addressed in order to increase knowledge and awareness of end-of-life and palliative care as well as completion of advance directives and planning. The results of this study may guide the design of multi-level community and theoretically-based awareness and training models that enhance awareness of palliative care, hospice care, and advance directives among minority populations.

Awareness of Advance Directives in Gangwon-do Province's adults

Awareness of Advance Directives in Gangwon-do Province's adults

The Attitudes of Chinese Cancer Patients and Family Caregivers toward Advance Directives

Advance directives (ADs) have been legislated in many countries to protect patient autonomy regarding medical decisions at the end of life. China is facing a serious cancer burden and cancer patients’ quality at the end of life should be a concern. However, limited studies have been conducted locally to gather information about attitudes toward ADs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of Chinese cancer patients and family caregivers toward ADs and to explore the predictors that are associated with attitudes. The study indicated that although there was low awareness of ADs, most cancer patients and family caregivers had positive attitudes toward ADs after related information was explained to them. Participants preferred to discuss ADs with medical staff when they were diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. Preferences for refusing life-sustaining treatment and choosing Hospice-Palliative Care (HPC) at the end of life would increase the likelihood of agreeing with ADs. This suggests that some effective interventions to help participants better understand end-of-life treatments are helpful in promoting ADs. Moreover, the development of HPC would contribute to Chinese cancer patients and family caregivers agreeing with ADs.

Awareness and completion of advance directives in older Korean-American adults.

There has been growing concern about racial and ethnic disparities in completion rates of advance directives (ADs) in community-dwelling older populations. Although differences in AD completion rates between non-Hispanic whites and African Americans have been reported, not much is known about the awareness and completion of ADs in other groups of ethnic minorities. Using a sample of community-dwelling Korean-American older adults (n=675) as a target, factors associated with their awareness and completion of ADs were explored. Guided by Andersen's behavioral health model, predisposing (age, sex, marital status, education), need (chronic conditions, functional disability), and enabling (health insurance, acculturation) variables were included in the separate logistic regression models of AD awareness and AD completion. In both models, acculturation was found to be a significant predictor; those who were more acculturated were more likely to be aware of ADs and to have completed ADs. This study contributes to the knowledge about the role of acculturation in explaining AD awareness and completion in Korean-American older adults and provides recommendations for possible AD educational interventions for this older adult minority population.

지역사회 거주 노인의 임종기 치료, 연명치료, 사전의료의향서에 대한 지식

Purpose: This study was performed to identify the level of Korean elderly`s knowledge regarding concepts of end-of-life (EOL), Life-sustaining-treatment (LST), and advance directives (AD) which are critical aspects for establishing AD in Korean society. Methods: A questionnaire survey was done between October 2011 and February 2012. Knowledge of AD was evaluated with 3 aspects including EOL, LST, and AD utilizing a questionnaire that was developed by authors for the study. Data were collected from 268 community dwelling elderly from three cities and analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, and a Scheffe post hoc test with SAS Ver. 9.1 program. Results: Overall, Korean elderly were poorly acquainted with AD related concepts. Significant differences in awareness of AD including understanding of EOL, the level of comprehension of LST, and knowledge about AD were revealed by gender, education level, economic state, and acquaintance with terms of AD or LST. Conclusion: To acknowledge autonomy and support quality of life for elderly and to meet the purpose of AD, attention should be given to target populations including elderly in terms of knowledge level related to AD, social marketing, and infra structure relevant to practice AD in our society.

Awareness of Advance Directives Among Korean Nurses

Awareness of Advance Directives Among Korean Nurses

Awareness of Advance Directives Among Korean Nurses

Awareness of advance directives (AD) among 293 nurses working in acute hospitals was evaluated through a structured questionnaire. Nurses were poorly acquainted with AD. Education about AD and related concepts are required in college and field experience to improve practice and communication with patients at the end of life.

Knowledge, Attitudes, Experiences, and Confidence of Nurses in Completing Advance Directives

Advance directives (ADs) are one of the few means for patients to indicate their end-of-life (EOL) treatment option preference. An effective and consistent solution for increasing the AD completion rate remains elusive. A literature search revealed three studies completed in the United States that employed an identical methodology and focused on registered nurses (RNs). These studies examined a variety of concepts, including nurses' knowledge, attitudes, experience, and confidence with regard to ADs. This review completed a systematic synthesis of reported results from three survey studies that focused, respectively, on oncology, critical care, and emergency RNs who were members of various professional nursing organizations. Our investigation addressed the following research questions: What are the knowledge, attitudes, experience, and confidence of RNs with regard to ADs, and what is the relationship among these study variables? Each study used the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Experiential Survey on Advance Directives Instrument to obtain findings. Findings indicated that level of knowledge of nurses was about 60% correct and that nurses reported a moderate level of confidence related to ADs. Nurses stated they were experienced in AD discussions and agreed with attitude statements indicating support of ADs. Advocacy was a theme in the findings of these studies, as most nurses agreed with the statement that nurses should uphold patients' wishes. Time was identified as an impediment to AD completion. Critical care nurses had higher levels of awareness of ADs, as compared with oncology and emergency room nurses, although the cause of this difference is unclear. Although RNs provided AD education and explanations and described the various types of EOL care, these study subjects suggested that discussions of patients' prognoses may be an intervention more appropriate for nurses or other clinicians with advanced education and training. CONCLUSION/LIMITATIONS: The low Cronbach's alpha values in the attitude scales within the survey instrument posed limitations in the original research on the use of attitude scale scores in statistical analysis. The data examined in this study was obtained from published reports, which limited the synthesis and analysis of study findings. Nurses need to refine their role in AD discussions with patients. End-of-life discussions should be an interwoven process between RNs and the multidisciplinary team.

A critical review of advance directives in Germany: Attitudes, use and healthcare professionals’ compliance

ObjectiveRecent legal changes in Germany make non-compliance with advance directives (ADs) a criminal offence. This article assesses the evidence on attitudes towards, use of, and physician compliance with ADs in Germany. MethodsCritical review: studies on ADs, identified from a systematic review of culture and end-of-life care in Germany (11 electronic databases, 3 journals, reference lists, and grey literature), were included. An interpretative synthesis of findings revealed cross-cutting themes. ResultsThirty-two studies (1996–2009) were identified. Key themes were: awareness; utilization; compliance; and bindingness of ADs. There was a positive trend between awareness of ADs and study publication date. Use varied between patient groups (0.3–62%) and was low amongst the general population (2.5–10%). Fears about ADs’ purpose and possible abuse were identified. Physician discomfort in discussing ADs and non-compliance were reported. Physicians preferred legally binding ADs, though conflicting results were reported for patients’ desired level of bindingness. ConclusionAlthough there is increasing awareness of ADs in Germany, there remains low use, poor communication, fears of abuse, some non-compliance and contradictory evidence regarding desired bindingness. Practical implicationsAlthough legal changes will hopefully improve compliance, low awareness, communication difficulties and uncertainties surrounding ADs must be addressed if use is to increase.