A randomized, controlled trial to improve advance care planning among patients undergoing cardiac surgery

Improving hospital-based end of life care processes and outcomes: a systematic review of research output, quality and effectiveness

BACKGROUND

As in other areas of health delivery, there is a need to ensure that end-of-life care is guided by patient centred research. A systematic review was undertaken to examine the quantity and quality of data-based research aimed at improving the (a) processes and (b) outcomes associated with delivering end-of-life care in hospital settings.

METHODS

Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were searched between 1995 and 2015 for data-based papers. Eligible papers were classified as descriptive, measurement or intervention studies. Intervention studies were categorised according to whether the primary aim was to improve: (a) end of life processes (i.e. end-of-life documentation and discussions, referrals); or (b) end-of-life outcomes (i.e. perceived quality of life, health status, health care use, costs). Intervention studies were assessed against the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care methodological criteria for research design, and their effectiveness examined.

RESULTS

A total of 416 papers met eligibility criteria. The number increased by 13% each year (p < 0.001). Most studies were descriptive (n = 351, 85%), with fewer measurement (n = 17) and intervention studies (n = 48; 10%). Only 18 intervention studies (4%) met EPOC design criteria. Most reported benefits for end-of-life processes including end-of-life discussions and documentation (9/11). Impact on end-of-life outcomes was mixed, with some benefit for psychosocial distress, satisfaction and concordance in care (3/7).

CONCLUSION

More methodologically robust studies are needed to evaluate the impact of interventions on end-of-life processes, including whether changes in processes translate to improved end-of-life outcomes. Interventions which target both the patient and substitute decision maker in an effort to achieve these changes would be beneficial.

Decision Making Regarding the Place of End-of-Life Cancer Care: The Burden on Bereaved Families and Related Factors

CONTEXT

Decision making regarding the place of end-of-life (EOL) care is an important issue for patients with terminal cancer and their families. It often requires surrogate decision making, which can be a burden on families.

OBJECTIVES

To explore the burden on the family of patients dying from cancer related to the decisions they made about the place of EOL care and investigate the factors affecting this burden.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional mail survey using a self-administered questionnaire. Participants were 700 bereaved family members of patients with cancer from 133 palliative care units in Japan. The questionnaire covered decisional burdens, depression, grief, and the decision-making process.

RESULTS

Participants experienced emotional pressure as the highest burden. Participants with a high decisional burden reported significantly higher scores for depression and grief (both P < 0.001). Multiple regression analyses revealed that higher burden was associated with selecting a place of EOL care that differed from that desired by participants (P < 0.001) and patients (P = 0.034), decision making without knowing the patient's wishes and values (P < 0.001) and without participants sharing their wishes and values with the patient's doctors and/or nurses (P = 0.022), and making the decision because of a due date for discharge from a former facility or hospital (P = 0.005).

CONCLUSION

Decision making regarding the place of EOL care was recalled as burdensome for family decision makers. An early decision-making process that incorporates sharing patients' and family members' values that are relevant to the desired place of EOL care is important.

Barriers to and Facilitators of South Asian Indian-Americans' Engagement in Advanced Care Planning Behaviors

PURPOSE

To identify barriers to and facilitators of older South Asian Indian-Americans' (SAIAs') engagement in behaviors associated with advance care planning (ACP).

METHODS

Using a descriptive qualitative design guided by the transcultural nursing assessment model, data were collected in focus groups of community-dwelling older SAIA participants, SAIA family caregivers, and SAIA physicians. A directed approach using predetermined coding categories derived from the Transcultural Nursing Assessment model and aided by NVivo 10 software (Melbourne, Australia) facilitated the qualitative data analysis.

RESULTS

Eleven focus groups with 36 older SAIAs (61% female, 83% 70+ years old), 10 SAIA family caregivers, and 4 SAIA physicians indicated prior lack of awareness of ACP, good health status, lack of access to linguistically and health literacy-tailored materials, healthcare provider hesitation to initiate discussions on ACP, trust in healthcare providers' or oldest sons' decision making, busy family caregiver work routines, and cultural assumptions about filial piety and after-death rituals as major barriers to engaging in ACP. Introducing ACP using personal anecdotes in a neutral, group-based community setting and incentivizing ACP discussions by including long-term care planning were suggested as facilitators to engage in ACP.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The study's findings will guide development of culturally sensitive interventions to raise awareness about ACP among SAIAs and encourage SAIA older adults to engage in ACP.

Initial Experience with "Honoring Choices Wisconsin": Implementation of an Advance Care Planning Pilot in a Tertiary Care Setting

BACKGROUND

Although previous research on advance care planning (ACP) has associated ACP with improved quality of care at the end of life, the appropriate use of ACP remains limited.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of a pilot program using the "Honoring Choices Wisconsin" (HCW) model for ACP in a tertiary care setting, and to understand barriers to system-wide implementation.

DESIGN

Retrospective review of prospectively collected data.

SETTING/SUBJECTS

Patients who received medical or surgical oncology care at Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin.

MEASUREMENTS

Patient demographics, disease characteristics, patient satisfaction, and clinical outcomes.

RESULTS

Data from 69 patients who died following the implementation of the HCW program were reviewed; 24 patients were enrolled in the HCW program while 45 were not. Patients enrolled in HCW were proportionally less likely to be admitted to the ICU (12.5% vs. 17.8%) and were more likely to be "do not resuscitate" (87.5% vs. 80.0%), as well as have a completed ACP (83.3% vs. 79.1%). Furthermore, admission to a hospice was also higher among patients who were enrolled in the HCW program (79.2% vs. 25.6%), with patients enrolled in HCW more likely to die in hospice (70.8% vs. 53.3%). The HCW program was favorably viewed by patients, patient caregivers, and healthcare providers.

CONCLUSIONS

Implementation of a facilitator-based ACP care model was associated with fewer ICU admissions, and a higher use of hospice care. System-level changes are required to overcome barriers to ACP that limit patients from receiving end-of-life care in accordance with their preferences.

Palliative Care in Surgery: Defining the Research Priorities

Given the acute and often life-limiting nature of surgical illness, as well as the potential for treatment to induce further suffering, surgical patients have considerable palliative care needs. Yet, these patients are less likely to receive palliative care than their medical counterparts and palliative care consultations often occur when death is imminent, reflecting poor quality end-of-life care. Surgical patients would likely benefit from early palliative care delivered alongside surgical treatment to promote goal-concordant decision making and to improve patients' physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being and quality of life. To date, evidence to support the role of palliative care in surgical practice is sparse and palliative care research in surgery is encumbered by methodological challenges and entrenched cultural norms that impede appropriate provision of palliative care. The objective of this article was to describe the existing science of palliative care in surgery within three priority areas and expose specific gaps within the field. We propose a research agenda to address these gaps and provide a road map for future investigation.

A systematic review of effectiveness of decision aids to assist older patients at the end of life

OBJECTIVE

To describe the range of decision aids (DAs) available to enable informed choice for older patients at the end of life and assess their effectiveness or acceptability.

METHODS

Search strategy covered PubMed, Scopus, Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, EBM Reviews, CINAHL and PsycInfo between 1995 and 2015. The quality criteria framework endorsed by the International Patient Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS) was used to assess usefulness.

RESULTS

Seventeen DA interventions for patients, their surrogates or health professionals were included. Half the DAs were designed for self-administration and few described use of facilitators for decision-making.

TREATMENT

options and associated harms and benefits, and patient preferences were most commonly included. Patient values, treatment goals, numeric disease-specific prognostic information and financial implications of decisions were generally not covered. DAs at the end of life are generally acceptable by users, and appear to increase knowledge and reduce decisional conflict but this effectiveness is mainly based on low-level evidence.

CONCLUSIONS

Continuing evaluation of DAs in routine practice to support advance care planning is worth exploring further. In particular, this would be useful for conditions such as cancer, or situations such as major surgery where prognostic data is known, or in dementia where concordance on primary goals of care between surrogates and the treating team can be improved.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Given the sensitivities of end-of-life, self-administered DAs are inappropriate in this context and genuine informed decision-making cannot happen while those gaps in the instruments remain.

Improving outcomes from high-risk surgery: a multimethod evaluation of a patient-centred advanced care planning intervention

INTRODUCTION

Patients who are frail, have multiple comorbidities or have a terminal illness often have poor outcomes from surgery. However, sole specialists may recommend surgery in these patients without consultation with other treating clinicians or allowing for patient goals. The Patient-Centred Advanced Care Planning (PC-ACP) model of care provides a framework in which a multidisciplinary advanced care plan is devised to incorporate high-risk patients' values and goals. Decision-making is performed collaboratively by patients, their family, surgeons, anaesthetists, intensivists and surgical case managers. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of this new model of care, and to determine potential benefits to patients and clinicians.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

After being assessed for frailty, patients will complete a patient-clinician information engagement survey pretreatment and at 6 months follow-up. Patients (and/or family members) will be interviewed about their experience of care pretreatment and at 3 and 6 months follow-ups. Clinicians will complete a survey on workplace attitudes and engagement both preimplementation and postimplementation of PC-ACP and be interviewed, following each survey, on the implementation of PC-ACP. We will use process mapping to map the patient journey through the surgical care pathway to determine areas of improvement and to identify variations in patient experience.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This study has received ethical approval from Townsville Hospital and Health Service HREC (HREC/16/QTHS/100). Results will be communicated to the participating hospital, presented at conferences and submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed MEDLINE-indexed journal.

The Effect of Advance Directive Completion on Hospital Care Among Chronically Homeless Persons: a Prospective Cohort Study

Advance care planning is relevant for homeless individuals because they experience high rates of morbidity and mortality. The impact of advance directive interventions on hospital care of homeless individuals has not been studied. The objective of this study was to determine if homeless individuals who complete an advance directive through a shelter-based intervention are more likely to have information from their advance directive documented and used during subsequent hospitalizations. The advance directive included preferences for life-sustaining treatments, resuscitation, and substitute decision maker(s). A total of 205 homeless men from a homeless shelter for men in Toronto, Canada, were enrolled in the study and offered an opportunity to complete an advance directive with the guidance of a trained counselor from April to June 2013. One hundred and three participants chose to complete an advance directive, and 102 participants chose to not complete an advance directive. Participants were provided copies of their advance directives. In addition, advance directives were electronically stored, and hospitals within a 1.0-mile radius of the shelter were provided access to the database. A prospective cohort study was performed using chart reviews to ascertain the documentation, availability, and use of advance directives, end-of-life care preferences, and medical treatments during hospitalizations over a 1-year follow-up period (April 2013 to June 2014) after the shelter-based advance directive intervention. Chart reviewers were blinded as to whether participants had completed an advance directive. The primary outcome was documentation or use of an advance directive during any hospitalization. The secondary outcome was documentation of end-of-life care preferences, without reference to an advance directive, during any hospitalization. After unblinding, charts were studied to determine whether advance directives were available, hospital care was consistent with patient preferences as documented in advance directives, and hospital resource utilization during admission. During the 1-year follow-up period, 38 participants who completed an advance directive and 37 participants who did not complete an advance directive had at least one hospitalization (36.9 vs. 36.2 %, p = 0.93). Participants who completed an advance directive were significantly more likely to have documentation or use of an advance directive in hospital, compared to participants who did not complete an advance directive (9.7 vs. 2.9 %, p = 0.047). Without reference to an advance directive, documentation of end-of-life care preferences occurred in 30.1 vs. 30.4 % of participants, respectively (p = 0.96), most often due to documentation of code status. There were no significant differences in resource utilization between admitted patients who completed and did not complete an advance directive. In conclusion, homeless men who complete an advance directive through a shelter-based intervention are more likely to have their detailed care preferences documented or used during subsequent hospitalizations.

Racial Differences in Outcomes of an Advance Care Planning Intervention for Dialysis Patients and Their Surrogates

BACKGROUND

African Americans' beliefs about end-of-life care may differ from those of whites, but racial differences in advance care planning (ACP) outcomes are unknown.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of an ACP intervention on preparation for end-of-life decision making and post-bereavement outcomes for African Americans and whites on dialysis.

METHOD

A secondary analysis of data from a randomized trial comparing an ACP intervention (Sharing Patient's Illness Representations to Increase Trust [SPIRIT]) with usual care was conducted. There were 420 participants, 210 patient-surrogate dyads (67.4% African Americans), recruited from 20 dialysis centers in North Carolina. The outcomes of preparation for end-of-life decision making included dyad congruence on goals of care, surrogate decision-making confidence, a composite of the two, and patient decisional conflict assessed at 2, 6, and 12 months post-intervention. Surrogate bereavement outcomes included anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic distress symptoms assessed at 2 weeks, and at 3 and 6 months after the patient's death.

RESULTS

SPIRIT was superior to usual care in improving dyad congruence (odds ration [OR] = 2.31, p = 0.018), surrogate decision-making confidence (β = 0.18, p = 0.021), and the composite (OR = 2.19, p = 0.028) 2 months post-intervention, but only for African Americans. SPIRIT reduced patient decisional conflict at 6 months for whites and at 12 months for African Americans. Finally, SPIRIT was superior to usual care in reducing surrogates' bereavement depressive symptoms for African Americans but not for whites (β = -3.49, p = 0.003).

CONCLUSION

SPIRIT was effective in improving preparation for end-of-life decision-making and post-bereavement outcomes in African Americans.

Withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment: patient and proxy agreement: a secondary analysis of "contracts, covenants, and advance care planning"

BACKGROUND

Families of critically ill patients often make difficult decisions related to end-of-life (EOL) care including the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies.

OBJECTIVES

This study explored patient and proxy decisions related to mechanical ventilator withdrawal in scenarios characterizing 3 distinct disease trajectories (cancer, stroke, and heart failure [HF]) with different prognoses. The relationship between patient directives, modification of directives, prognosis, trust, and EOL decisions were examined.

METHODS

This secondary analysis of data obtained in the "Contracts, Covenants, and Advance Care Planning" study included a sample of 110 subjects with 50 patient-proxy pairs. Patient and proxy agreement was assessed in response to questions regarding mechanical ventilator withdrawal while considering directives or modification of directives in 3 different scenarios.

RESULTS

Patient and proxy agreement ranged from 48% (n = 24 pairs) to 94% (n = 47 pairs). Agreement was lowest in HF (uncertain prognosis) when the directive indicated "do nothing" or "did not indicate any preference." Modified directives yielded 48% (n = 24 pairs) to 84% (n = 42 pairs) agreement. Changing directives from "do nothing" to "more hopeful" in HF (uncertain prognosis) had the highest agreement among modified scenarios. Despite wide variability in agreement, patients reported a high level of trust in their proxies' decisions.

DISCUSSION

This study highlighted differences in patient and proxy agreement about withdrawal of mechanical ventilation. Critical care nurses provide a key role in supporting EOL decisions. Encouraging ongoing communication about preferences and understanding the role of disease process and prognosis in decision making are paramount. Future research needs to explore factors that may improve patient and proxy agreement in EOL decisions and ways critical care nurses can support patients and proxies in these decisions, ultimately improving EOL care.

Promoting advance care planning among community-based older adults: A randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE

To test an intervention designed to motivate older adults in documenting their healthcare preferences in advance, and to guide proxies in making hypothetical decisions that match those of the older adult.

METHODS

The trial involved 235 older adults, of which half were assisted in communicating their wishes to their proxy. Hypothetical vignettes were used at baseline and twice after the intervention to elicit older adults' preferences and assess their proxy's ability to predict them.

RESULTS

By the end of the trial, 80% of older adults allocated to the experimental group had documented their wishes. Changes over time in mean accuracy scores did not differ between groups for any hypothetical situations, except when limiting the sample to dyads that were highly discordant at baseline.

CONCLUSION

The intervention motivated a large proportion of older adults to express their preferences but had little effect on proxies' ability to predict them.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Educational tools developed for this study will assist healthcare providers in helping older adults to record their wishes in advance. Clients must be informed of the challenge of making substitute decisions and of the need to discuss the amount of leeway the proxy should have in interpreting expressed wishes.

Advance Care Planning after Lung Transplantation: A Case of Missed Opportunities

After lung transplantation, recipients are regularly evaluated by the transplant team and often require multiple hospitalizations. The primary focus of care during this time is on detecting and treating complications and may not necessarily include advance care planning discussions. This focus may leave clinicians unaware of the recipient's treatment preferences and place a burden on families trying to decide whether to undergo or forgo life-sustaining treatment when the recipient's medical condition deteriorates. We report the case of a woman with bronchiolitis obliterans who was admitted to the transplant center 37 times and died in the intensive care unit. Although progressive deterioration of her medical condition was well documented, her medical records revealed no evidence of advance care planning discussions with the patient and family. Incorporating timely advance care planning and integrating palliative care in the ongoing posttransplant clinical management may benefit patients, families, and clinicians as recipients approach the final stage of their illness.

Communication Tools for End-of-Life Decision-Making in Ambulatory Care Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Patients with serious illness, and their families, state that better communication and decision-making with healthcare providers is a high priority to improve the quality of end-of-life care. Numerous communication tools to assist patients, family members, and clinicians in end-of-life decision-making have been published, but their effectiveness remains unclear.

OBJECTIVES

To determine, amongst adults in ambulatory care settings, the effect of structured communication tools for end-of-life decision-making on completion of advance care planning.

METHODS

We searched for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or non-randomized intervention studies in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, ERIC, and the Cochrane Database of Randomized Controlled Trials from database inception until July 2014. Two reviewers independently screened articles for eligibility, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) was used to evaluate the quality of evidence for each of the primary and secondary outcomes.

RESULTS

Sixty-seven studies, including 46 RCTs, were found. The majority evaluated communication tools in older patients (age >50) with no specific medical condition, but many specifically evaluated populations with cancer, lung, heart, neurologic, or renal disease. Most studies compared the use of communication tools against usual care, but several compared the tools to less-intensive advance care planning tools. The use of structured communication tools increased: the frequency of advance care planning discussions/discussions about advance directives (RR 2.31, 95% CI 1.25-4.26, p = 0.007, low quality evidence) and the completion of advance directives (ADs) (RR 1.92, 95% CI 1.43-2.59, p<0.001, low quality evidence); concordance between AD preferences and subsequent medical orders for use or non-use of life supporting treatment (RR 1.19, 95% CI 1.01-1.39, p = 0.028, very low quality evidence, 1 observational study); and concordance between the care desired and care received by patients (RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.05-1.30, p = 0.004, low quality evidence, 2 RCTs).

CONCLUSIONS

The use of structured communication tools may increase the frequency of discussions about and completion of advance directives, and concordance between the care desired and the care received by patients. The use of structured communication tools rather than an ad-hoc approach to end-of-life decision-making should be considered, and the selection and implementation of such tools should be tailored to address local needs and context.

REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42014012913.

Trends in Advance Care Planning in Patients With Cancer: Results From a National Longitudinal Survey

IMPORTANCE

Advance care planning (ACP) may prevent end-of-life (EOL) care that is nonbeneficial and discordant with patient wishes. Despite long-standing recognition of the merits of ACP in oncology, it is unclear whether participation in ACP by patients with cancer has increased over time.

OBJECTIVES

To characterize trends in durable power of attorney (DPOA) assignment, living will creation, and participation in discussions of EOL care preferences and to explore associations between ACP subtypes and EOL treatment intensity as reflected in EOL care decisions and terminal hospitalizations.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

We analyzed prospectively collected survey data from 1985 next-of-kin surrogates of Health and Retirement Study (HRS) participants with cancer who died between 2000 and 2012, including data from in-depth "exit" interviews conducted with the surrogates after the participant's death. The HRS is a nationally representative, biennial, longitudinal panel study of US residents older than 50 years. Trends in ACP subtypes were tested, and multivariable logistic regression models examined for associations between ACP subtypes and measures of treatment intensity.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Trends in the surrogate-reported frequency of DPOA assignment, living will creation, and participation in discussions of EOL care preferences; associations between ACP subtypes and both surrogate-reported EOL care decisions and terminal hospitalizations.

RESULTS

From 2000 to 2012, there was an increase in DPOA assignment (52% to 74%, P = .03), without significant change in use of living wills (49% to 40%, P = .63) or EOL discussions (68% to 60%, P = .62). Surrogate reports that patients received "all care possible" at EOL increased during the period (7% to 58%, P = .004), and rates of terminal hospitalizations were unchanged (29% to 27%, P = .70). Limiting or withholding treatment was associated with living wills (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.51; 95% CI, 1.53-4.11; P < .001) and EOL discussions (AOR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.53-3.14; P = .002) but not with DPOA assignment.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Use of DPOA increased significantly between 2000 and 2012 but was not associated with EOL care decisions. Importantly, there was no growth in key ACP domains such as discussions of care preferences. Efforts that bolster communication of EOL care preferences and also incorporate surrogate decision makers are critically needed to ensure receipt of goal-concordant care.

A randomized controlled pilot trial to improve advance care planning for LVAD patients and their surrogates

OBJECTIVES

To examine feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effects of an advance care planning (ACP) intervention, SPIRIT-HF, in LVAD patients and their surrogates.

BACKGROUND

LVADs may improve HF symptoms but they are not curative. Thus, ACP is needed to prepare patients and surrogates for end-of-life (EOL) decision-making.

METHODS

Bridge to transplant and destination therapy LVAD patient-surrogate dyads were randomized to either SPIRIT-HF or usual care. Percentages of eligible dyads who were enrolled and completed the study determined feasibility. Analysis of interviews with SPIRIT dyads determined acceptability. Group comparisons of dyad congruence, patient's decisional conflict, and surrogate's decision-making confidence determined preliminary effects.

RESULTS

Of 38 eligible dyads, 29 (76%) were enrolled, randomized, and completed the study. The 14 intervention dyads characterized SPIRIT-HF as beneficial. All dyads demonstrated improvement in outcomes. However, SPIRIT-HF dyads tended toward greater congruence on patient EOL treatment goals.

CONCLUSIONS

SPIRIT-HF is feasible and acceptable. Results will inform future trials.

Development of a complex intervention to support the initiation of advance care planning by general practitioners in patients at risk of deteriorating or dying: a phase 0-1 study

Background

Most patients with life-limiting illnesses are treated and cared for over a long period of time in primary care and guidelines suggest that ACP discussions should be initiated in primary care. However, a practical model to implement ACP in general practice is lacking. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop an intervention to support the initiation of ACP in general practice.

Methods

We conducted a Phase 0-I study according to the Medical Research Council (MRC) Framework. Phase 0 consisted of a systematic literature review about the barriers and facilitators for GPs to engage in ACP, focus groups with GPs were held about their experiences, attitudes and concerns regarding initiating ACP in general practice and a review of ACP interventions to identify potential components for the development of our intervention. In Phase 1, we developed a complex intervention to support the initiation of ACP in general practice in patients at risk of deteriorating or dying, based on the results of Phase 0. The complex intervention and its components were reviewed and refined by two expert panels.

Results

Phase 0 resulted in the identification of the factors inhibiting or enabling GPs’ initiation of ACP and important components underpinning existing ACP interventions. Based on these findings, an intervention was developed in Phase 1 consisting of: (1) a training for GPs in initiating and conducting ACP discussions, (2) a register of patients eligible for ACP discussions, (3) an educational booklet on ACP for patients to prepare the ACP discussions that includes general information on ACP, a section on the role of GPs in the process of ACP and a prompt list, (4) a conversation guide to support GPs in the ACP discussions and (5) a structured documentation template to record the outcomes of discussions.

Conclusion

Taking into account the barriers and facilitators for GPs to initiate ACP as well as the key factors underpinning successful ACP intervention in other health care settings, a complex intervention for general practice was developed, after gaining feedback from two expert panels. The feasibility and acceptability of the intervention will subsequently be tested in a Phase II study.

A systematic review of evidence for end-of-life communication interventions: Who do they target, how are they structured and do they work?

OBJECTIVE

To identify and synthesise evidence for interventions targeting end-of-life communication.

METHODS

Database, reference list and author searches were conducted to identify evaluations of end-of-life communication-focussed interventions. Data were extracted, synthesised and QUALSYST quality analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Forty-five studies met inclusion criteria. Interventions targeted patients (n=6), caregivers (n=3), healthcare professionals (HCPs n=24) and multiple stakeholders (n=12). Interventions took various forms including communication skills training, education, advance care planning and structured practice changes. Substantial heterogeneity in study designs, outcomes, settings and measures was apparent and study quality was variable.

CONCLUSION

A substantial number of end-of-life communication interventions have been evaluated. Interventions have particularly targeted HCPs in cancer settings, though patient, caregiver and multi-focal interventions have also been evaluated. While some interventions were efficacious in well-designed RCTs, most evidence was from less robust studies. While additional interventions targeting patients and caregivers are needed, multi-focal interventions may more effectively remove barriers to end-of-life communication.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Despite the limitations evident in the existing literature, healthcare professionals may still derive useful insights into effective approaches to end-of-life communication if appropriate caution is exercised. However, additional RCTs, implementation studies and cost-benefit analyses are required to bolster arguments for implementing and resourcing communication interventions.

Advance Directives and Communication Skills of Prehospital Physicians Involved in the Care of Cardiovascular Patients

Advance directives (AD) were developed to respect patient autonomy. However, very few patients have AD, even in cases when major cardiovascular surgery is to follow. To understand the reasons behind the low prevalence of AD and to help decision making when patients are incompetent, it is necessary to focus on the impact of prehospital practitioners, who may contribute to an increase in AD by discussing them with patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate self-rated communication skills and the attitudes of physicians potentially involved in the care of cardiovascular patients toward AD.Self-administered questionnaires were sent to general practitioners, cardiologists, internists, and intensivists, including the Quality of Communication Score, divided into a General Communication score (QOCgen 6 items) and an End-of-life Communication score (QOCeol 7 items), as well as questions regarding opinions and practices in terms of AD.One hundred sixty-four responses were received. QOCgen (mean (±SD)): 9.0/10 (1.0); QOCeol: 7.2/10 (1.7). General practitioners most frequently start discussions about AD (74/149 [47%]) and are more prone to designate their own specialty (30/49 [61%], P < 0.0001). Overall, only 57/159 (36%) physicians designated their own specialty; 130/158 (82%) physicians ask potential cardiovascular patients if they have AD and 61/118 (52%) physicians who care for cardiovascular patients talk about AD with some of them.The characteristics of physicians who do not talk about AD with patients were those who did not personally have AD and those who work in private practices.One hundred thirty-three (83%) physicians rated the systematic mention of patients' AD in the correspondence between physicians as good, while 114 (71%) at the patients' first registration in the private practice.Prehospital physicians rated their communication skills as good, whereas end-of-life communication was rated much lower. Only half of those surveyed speak about AD with cardiovascular patients. The majority would prefer that physicians of another specialty, most frequently general practitioners, initiate conversation about AD. In order to increase prehospital AD incidence, efforts must be centered on improving practitioners' communication skills regarding death, by providing trainings to allow physicians to feel more at ease when speaking about end-of-life issues.

Advance care planning and end-of-life decision making in dialysis: a randomized controlled trial targeting patients and their surrogates

BACKGROUND

Few trials have examined long-term outcomes of advance care planning (ACP) interventions. We examined the efficacy of an ACP intervention on preparation for end-of-life decision making for dialysis patients and surrogates and for surrogates' bereavement outcomes.

STUDY DESIGN

A randomized trial compared an ACP intervention (Sharing Patient's Illness Representations to Increase Trust [SPIRIT]) to usual care alone, with blinded outcome assessments.

SETTING & PARTICIPANTS

420 participants (210 dyads of prevalent dialysis patients and their surrogates) from 20 dialysis centers.

INTERVENTION

Every dyad received usual care. Those randomly assigned to SPIRIT had an in-depth ACP discussion at the center and a follow-up session at home 2 weeks later.

OUTCOMES & MEASUREMENTS

PRIMARY OUTCOMES

preparation for end-of-life decision making, assessed for 12 months, included dyad congruence on goals of care at end of life, patient decisional conflict, surrogate decision-making confidence, and a composite of congruence and surrogate decision-making confidence.

SECONDARY OUTCOMES

bereavement outcomes, assessed for 6 months, included anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic distress symptoms completed by surrogates after patient death.

RESULTS

PRIMARY OUTCOMES

adjusting for time and baseline values, dyad congruence (OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.1-3.3), surrogate decision-making confidence (β=0.13; 95% CI, 0.01-0.24), and the composite (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.0-3.2) were better in SPIRIT than controls, but patient decisional conflict did not differ between groups (β=-0.01; 95% CI, -0.12 to 0.10).

SECONDARY OUTCOMES

45 patients died during the study. Surrogates in SPIRIT had less anxiety (β=-1.13; 95% CI, -2.23 to -0.03), depression (β=-2.54; 95% CI, -4.34 to -0.74), and posttraumatic distress (β=-5.75; 95% CI, -10.9 to -0.64) than controls.

LIMITATIONS

Study was conducted in a single US region.

CONCLUSIONS

SPIRIT was associated with improvements in dyad preparation for end-of-life decision making and surrogate bereavement outcomes.

An environmental scan of advance care planning decision AIDS for patients undergoing major surgery: a study protocol

BACKGROUND

Patients who undergo major surgery are at risk for perioperative morbidity and mortality. It would be appropriate to initiate advance care planning with patients prior to surgery, but surgeons may experience difficulty initiating such conversations. Rather than focus on changing clinician behavior, advance care planning decision aids can be an innovative vehicle to motivate advance care planning among surgical patients and their families.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this paper is to describe a study protocol for conducting an environmental scan concerning advance care planning decision aids that may be relevant to patients undergoing high-risk surgery.

METHODS/DESIGN

This study will gather information from written or verbal data sources that incorporate professional and lay perspectives: a systematic review, a grey literature review, key informant interviews, and patient and family engagement. It is envisioned that this study will generate three outcomes: a synthesis of current evidence, a summary of gaps in knowledge, and a taxonomy of existing advance care planning decision aids.

DISCUSSION

This environmental scan will demonstrate principles of patient-centered outcomes research, and it will exemplify a pioneering approach for reviewing complex interventions. Anticipated limitations are that information will be gathered from a small sample of patients and families, and that potentially relevant information could also be missing from the environmental scan due to the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Outcomes from the environmental scan will inform future patient-centered research to develop and evaluate a new decision aid.

Creating an advance-care-planning decision aid for high-risk surgery: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

High-risk surgery patients may lose decision-making capacity as a result of surgical complications. Advance care planning prior to surgery may be beneficial, but remains controversial and is hindered by a lack of appropriate decision aids. This study sought to examine stakeholders' views on the appropriateness of using decision aids, in general, to support advance care planning among high-risk surgery populations and the design of such a decision aid.

METHODS

Key informants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by phone until data collected reached theoretical saturation. Key informants were asked to discuss their thoughts about advance care planning and interventions to support advance care planning, particularly for this population. Researchers took de-identified notes that were analyzed for emerging concordant, discordant, and recurrent themes using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

RESULTS

Key informants described the importance of initiating advance care planning preoperatively, despite potential challenges present in surgical settings. In general, decision aids were viewed as an appropriate approach to support advance care planning for this population. A recipe emerged from the data that outlines tools, ingredients, and tips for success that are needed to design an advance care planning decision aid for high-risk surgical settings.

CONCLUSIONS

Stakeholders supported incorporating advance care planning in high-risk surgical settings and endorsed the appropriateness of using decision aids to do so. Findings will inform the next stages of developing the first advance care planning decision aid for high-risk surgery patients.

Cancer caregivers advocate a patient- and family-centered approach to advance care planning

CONTEXT

Cancer caregivers have important roles in delivering practical, emotional, and end-of-life support to patients; however, they express multiple unmet needs, particularly information on future care planning. Early regular communication and decision making may improve access to timely information, alleviate anxiety, reduce uncertainty, and improve coping strategies.

OBJECTIVES

This study examines how cancer caregivers view advance care planning (ACP) to inform an ACP program in an Australian cancer center.

METHODS

This study used a qualitative descriptive design with grounded theory overtones. Eighteen caregivers of patients from lung and gastrointestinal tumor streams participated in focus groups or semistructured interviews, which incorporated the vignette technique.

RESULTS

Caregivers believe that, although confronting, ACP discussions can be helpful. Conversations are sometimes patient initiated, although caregivers may intend to sensitively broach conversations over time. Findings highlight the impact of caregiver hierarchies, adaptive family decision-making styles, and complex cultural influences on decision making. Some caregivers may develop subsidiary care intentions, based on "knowing" or overriding patients' desires. Hindrances on caregivers supporting patients' ACPs include limited information access, patient or caregiver resistance to engage in conversations, and ACPs association in oncology with losing hope. Many caregivers wanted professional support and further opportunities to obtain information, develop subsidiary plans, and help patients engage in ACP discussions.

CONCLUSION

Findings highlight the influence of cancer caregivers and family dynamics over ACP decisions and actualization of future care plans. A patient- and family-centered care approach to ACP, promoting shared decision making and caregiver support, is recommended. Given that caregivers may override and, plausibly, misinterpret patients' desires, caregivers' subsidiary planning warrants further investigation.

Conversations about treatment preferences before high-risk surgery: a pilot study in the preoperative testing center

BACKGROUND

It is important to engage patients and surrogates in conversations about goals and preferences for medical treatment before high-risk surgery. However, few interventions have been tested to facilitate these discussions.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the acceptability and feasibility of a facilitated, structured conversation with patients and surrogates about patient goals and preferences for medical treatment during their visit to a preoperative testing center before high-risk surgery.

DESIGN

A randomized controlled pilot study in the preoperative testing center at a tertiary academic hospital over a 4-month period.

MEASUREMENTS

We used baseline and preoperative surveys to assess feasibility, and to compare differences in worry, surrogate burden, and patient-surrogate concordance about treatment preferences in conversation and control groups. We assessed acceptability of the conversation qualitatively and through surveys.

RESULTS

Of 146 eligible patients, 79 were approached, and 65 declined to participate. Thirteen completed the study and 8 were randomized to the structured conversation. Major recruitment barriers included lack of time, or surrogate unavailability. Most postconversation patients were less worried, and more hopeful for a good recovery before surgery; 7 of 8 would recommend the conversation. Six of 8 surrogates reported postoperatively that the conversation helped prepare them to be a surrogate. Concordance improved in the intervention group only.

CONCLUSIONS

Current processes of care present major barriers to conducting facilitated conversations in the preoperative testing center. Among a small group of patients and surrogates, most found a structured conversation about the patient's goals and preferences for medical treatment helpful before high-risk surgery.

Efficacy of advance care planning: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To systematically review the efficacy of advance care planning (ACP) interventions in different adult patient populations.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analyses.

DATA SOURCES

Medline/PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (1966 to September 2013), and reference lists.

STUDY SELECTION

Randomized controlled trials that describe original data on the efficacy of ACP interventions in adult populations and were written in English.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Fifty-five studies were identified. Study details were recorded using a predefined data abstraction form. Methodological quality was assessed using the PEDro scale by 2 independent reviewers. Meta-analytic techniques were conducted using a random effects model. Analyses were stratified for type of intervention: 'advance directives' and 'communication.'

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Primary outcome measures were completion of advance directives and occurrence of end-of-life discussions. Secondary outcomes were concordance between preferences for care and delivered care, knowledge of ACP, end-of-life care preferences, quality of communication, satisfaction with healthcare, decisional conflict, use of healthcare services, and symptoms.

RESULTS

Interventions focusing on advance directives as well as interventions that also included communication about end-of-life care increased the completion of advance directives and the occurrence of end-of-life care discussions between patients and healthcare professionals. In addition, interventions that also included communication about ACP, improved concordance between preferences for care and delivered care and may improve other outcomes, such as quality of communication.

CONCLUSIONS

ACP interventions increase the completion of advance directives, occurrence of discussions about ACP, concordance between preferences for care and delivered care, and are likely to improve other outcomes for patients and their loved ones in different adult populations. Future studies are necessary to reveal the effective elements of ACP and should focus on the best way to implement structured ACP in standard care.

Web-based symptom management for women with recurrent ovarian cancer: a pilot randomized controlled trial of the WRITE Symptoms intervention

CONTEXT

Little research has focused on symptom management among women with ovarian cancer. Written Representational Intervention To Ease Symptoms (WRITE Symptoms) is an educational intervention delivered through asynchronous web-based message boards between a study participant and a nurse.

OBJECTIVES

We evaluated WRITE Symptoms for 1) feasibility of conducting the study via message boards, 2) system usability, 3) participant satisfaction, and 4) initial efficacy.

METHODS

Participants were 65 women (mean age, 56.5; SD = 9.23) with recurrent ovarian cancer randomized using minimization with race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic white vs. minority) as the stratification factor. Measures were obtained at baseline and two and six weeks after intervention. Outcomes were feasibility of conducting the study, system usability, participant satisfaction, and efficacy (symptom severity, distress, consequences, and controllability).

RESULTS

Fifty-six (87.5%) participants were retained, and the mean usability score (range 1-7) was 6.18 (SD = 1.29). All satisfaction items were scored at 5 (of 7) or higher. There were significant between-group effects at T2 for symptom distress, with those in the WRITE Symptoms group reporting lower distress than those in the control group [t(88.4) = -2.57; P = 0.012], with a similar trend for symptom severity [t(40.4) = -1.95; P = 0.058]. Repeated measures analysis also supported a group effect, with those in the WRITE Symptoms group reporting lower symptom distress than those in the control condition [F(1, 56.7) = 4.59; P = 0.037].

CONCLUSION

Participants found the intervention and assessment system easy to use and had high levels of satisfaction. Initial efficacy was supported by decreases in symptom severity and distress.

Characterizing the public's preferential attitudes toward end-of-life care options: a role for the threshold technique?

OBJECTIVES

To assess the Threshold Technique's (TT) feasibility in community-wide surveys of U.S. Medicare beneficiaries' preferences for end-of-life (EOL) care options.

STUDY SETTING

Study participants were community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries in four different regions in the United States.

STUDY DESIGN

During personal interviews, participants considered four EOL scenarios, each presenting a choice between a less intense and more intense care option.

DATA COLLECTION

Participants selected their initially favored option. Depending on that choice, in the subsequent TT the length of life offered by the more intense option was systematically increased or decreased until the participant "switched" to his or her initially rejected option.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Participants were able to select an initially favored option (in 3 of the 4 scenarios; this was the less intense option). The majority of participants were able to engage with the subsequent TT. In all scenarios, regardless of the increase/decrease in the length of life offered by the more intense option, the majority of participants were unwilling to "switch" to their initially rejected option.

CONCLUSIONS

In surveys of populations' preferential attitudes toward EOL care options, the TT was a feasible elicitation method, engaging most participants and measuring the strength of their attitudes. Further methodological work is merited, involving (1) populations with various participant characteristics, and (2) different attributes in the TT task itself.

Interventions for providers to promote a patient-centred approach in clinical consultations

BACKGROUND

Communication problems in health care may arise as a result of healthcare providers focusing on diseases and their management, rather than people, their lives and their health problems. Patient-centred approaches to care delivery in the patient encounter are increasingly advocated by consumers and clinicians and incorporated into training for healthcare providers. However, the impact of these interventions directly on clinical encounters and indirectly on patient satisfaction, healthcare behaviour and health status has not been adequately evaluated.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effects of interventions for healthcare providers that aim to promote patient-centred care (PCC) approaches in clinical consultations.

SEARCH METHODS

For this update, we searched: MEDLINE (OvidSP), EMBASE (OvidSP), PsycINFO (OvidSP), and CINAHL (EbscoHOST) from January 2000 to June 2010. The earlier version of this review searched MEDLINE (1966 to December 1999), EMBASE (1985 to December 1999), PsycLIT (1987 to December 1999), CINAHL (1982 to December 1999) and HEALTH STAR (1975 to December 1999). We searched the bibliographies of studies assessed for inclusion and contacted study authors to identify other relevant studies. Any study authors who were contacted for further information on their studies were also asked if they were aware of any other published or ongoing studies that would meet our inclusion criteria.

SELECTION CRITERIA

In the original review, study designs included randomized controlled trials, controlled clinical trials, controlled before and after studies, and interrupted time series studies of interventions for healthcare providers that promote patient-centred care in clinical consultations. In the present update, we were able to limit the studies to randomized controlled trials, thus limiting the likelihood of sampling error. This is especially important because the providers who volunteer for studies of PCC methods are likely to be different from the general population of providers. Patient-centred care was defined as a philosophy of care that encourages: (a) shared control of the consultation, decisions about interventions or management of the health problems with the patient, and/or (b) a focus in the consultation on the patient as a whole person who has individual preferences situated within social contexts (in contrast to a focus in the consultation on a body part or disease). Within our definition, shared treatment decision-making was a sufficient indicator of PCC. The participants were healthcare providers, including those in training.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

We classified interventions by whether they focused only on training providers or on training providers and patients, with and without condition-specific educational materials. We grouped outcome data from the studies to evaluate both direct effects on patient encounters (consultation process variables) and effects on patient outcomes (satisfaction, healthcare behaviour change, health status). We pooled results of RCTs using standardized mean difference (SMD) and relative risks (RR) applying a fixed-effect model.

MAIN RESULTS

Forty-three randomized trials met the inclusion criteria, of which 29 are new in this update. In most of the studies, training interventions were directed at primary care physicians (general practitioners, internists, paediatricians or family doctors) or nurses practising in community or hospital outpatient settings. Some studies trained specialists. Patients were predominantly adults with general medical problems, though two studies included children with asthma. Descriptive and pooled analyses showed generally positive effects on consultation processes on a range of measures relating to clarifying patients' concerns and beliefs; communicating about treatment options; levels of empathy; and patients' perception of providers' attentiveness to them and their concerns as well as their diseases. A new finding for this update is that short-term training (less than 10 hours) is as successful as longer training.The analyses showed mixed results on satisfaction, behaviour and health status. Studies using complex interventions that focused on providers and patients with condition-specific materials generally showed benefit in health behaviour and satisfaction, as well as consultation processes, with mixed effects on health status. Pooled analysis of the fewer than half of included studies with adequate data suggests moderate beneficial effects from interventions on the consultation process; and mixed effects on behaviour and patient satisfaction, with small positive effects on health status. Risk of bias varied across studies. Studies that focused only on provider behaviour frequently did not collect data on patient outcomes, limiting the conclusions that can be drawn about the relative effect of intervention focus on providers compared with providers and patients.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Interventions to promote patient-centred care within clinical consultations are effective across studies in transferring patient-centred skills to providers. However the effects on patient satisfaction, health behaviour and health status are mixed. There is some indication that complex interventions directed at providers and patients that include condition-specific educational materials have beneficial effects on health behaviour and health status, outcomes not assessed in studies reviewed previously. The latter conclusion is tentative at this time and requires more data. The heterogeneity of outcomes, and the use of single item consultation and health behaviour measures limit the strength of the conclusions.

An exploratory survey of end-of-life attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of adolescents with HIV/AIDS and their families

CONTEXT

For youths with life-limiting conditions, little is known regarding families' understanding of their adolescent's wishes for end-of-life (EOL) care.

OBJECTIVES

To examine congruence in HIV positive adolescents and their families' thoughts about death and dying.

METHODS

The Lyon Advance Care Planning Survey-Adolescent and Surrogate versions were administered within a randomized controlled trial. Participants (n=48) were medically stable adolescents aged 14-21 years with HIV/AIDS and their families. Congruence was measured by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for continuous variables and by kappa for ordinal or dichotomous responses.

RESULTS

Adolescent participants were as follows: mean age 16.6 years (range 14-21); 37.5% males; 92% African American; 38% CD4 count <200; and viral load mean=32,079 copies/mL (range <400-91,863 copies/mL). Adolescent/family dyads agreed that it is important to complete an advance directive to let loved ones know their wishes (21/24 dyads), yet no dyads agreed an advance directive had been completed. Dyads endorsed incongruent thoughts about the adolescent being afraid of dying in pain (64%; congruent afraid=8 dyads, kappa=-0.0769) and being off life support machines (congruent important=9 dyads, ICC=-0.133, 95% confidence interval = -0.540, 0.302, P=0.721). Families' knowledge of teens' preferences for the timing of EOL conversations (early vs. late in course of illness) was poor (kappa=-0.1186). Adolescents (90%) wanted to talk about EOL issues before they entered the dying phase.

CONCLUSION

Although important areas of congruence emerged, equally important areas, such as the timing of these conversations and adolescents' EOL needs and wishes, are not known by their families. Families need help initiating conversations to assure that their adolescents' EOL wishes are known to them.

The need for safeguards in advance care planning

The recent uproar about Medicare "death panels" draws attention to public and professional concerns that advance care planning might restrict access to desired life-sustaining care. The primary goal of advance care planning is to promote the autonomy of a decisionally incapacitated patient when choices about life-sustaining treatments are encountered, but the safety of this procedure has not received deserved scrutiny. Patients often do not understand their decisions or they may change their mind without changing their advance care directives. Likewise, concordance between patients' wishes and the understanding of the physicians and surrogate decision makers who need to represent these wishes is disappointingly poor. A few recent reports show encouraging outcomes from advance care planning, but most studies indicate that the procedure is ineffective in protecting patients from unwanted treatments and may even undermine autonomy by leading to choices that do not reflect patient values, goals, and preferences. Safeguards for advance care planning should be put in place, such as encouraging physicians to err on the side of preserving life when advance care directives are unclear, requiring a trained advisor to review non-emergent patient choices to limit life-sustaining treatment, training of clinicians in conducting such conversations, and structured discussion formats that first address values and goals rather than particular life-sustaining procedures. Key targets for research include: how to improve completion rates for person wanting advance care directives, especially among minorities; more effective and standardized approaches to advance care planning discussions, including how best to present prognostic information to patients; methods for training clinicians and others to assist patients in this process; and systems for assuring that directives are available and up-to-date.

An assessment of social diffusion in the Respecting Choices advance care planning program

This study examines the potential social diffusion effects of the Respecting Choices advance care planning program administered in La Crosse, Wisconsin, since 1991. The program produces educational materials for patients, trains facilitators to help patients prepare for end of life, and ensures that advance directives are connected to patients' medical records. Using data from a survey of more than 5,000 White Wisconsin high school graduates in their mid-60s, we found that participants who were living in the La Crosse area were significantly less likely than their peers living elsewhere to have executed a living will or appointed a health care power of attorney. This pattern may reflect psychological reactance, where individuals reject a message or lesson when they perceive compliance as a threat to their autonomy. There was no evidence of social diffusion effects; participants who lived in the La Crosse region themselves or who had social network members residing in the area were no more likely than those with no known ties to the region to have engaged in advance care planning. Future studies should explore the processes through which individuals learn and share with others their knowledge of advance care planning.

Couple and family interventions in health problems

Intervention research for couples and families managing chronic health problems is in an early developmental stage. We reviewed randomized clinical trials of family interventions for common neurological diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes, which is similar to the content of previous reviews discussed later. One overriding theme of these studies is that patients with chronic illnesses and their families face a variety of challenges to which researchers have responded with an array of treatment modalities. Very few of the interventions reviewed, with the exception of treatment for adolescents with diabetes, tested family psychotherapy models. Most interventions were time-limited therapeutic interventions that trained families to improve their communication and problem-solving skills, individual and family coping skills, and medical management. Researchers more clearly described mechanisms of change in intervention studies with cancer and diabetes than with other diseases, and not surprisingly, they found greater empirical support for their interventions. Family interventions show promise to help patients and family members manage chronic illnesses. To develop an empirical base for family approaches to managing chronic illnesses, interventions must be based on theories that delineate mechanisms of change in family processes and skills in medical management necessary to maintain patients' and family members' health.

Effect of a disease-specific planning intervention on surrogate understanding of patient goals for future medical treatment

OBJECTIVES

To determine whether a disease-specific planning process can improve surrogate understanding of goals of patients with life-limiting illnesses for future medical treatments.

DESIGN

A multisite randomized controlled trial conducted between January 1, 2004 and July 31, 2007.

SETTING

Six outpatient clinics of large community or university health systems in three Wisconsin cities.

PARTICIPANTS

Competent, English-speaking adults aged 18 and older with chronic congestive heart failure or chronic renal disease and their surrogate decision-makers.

INTERVENTION

Trained health professionals conducted a structured, patient-centered interview intended to promote informed decision-making and to result in the completion of a document clarifying the goals of the patient with regard to four disease-specific health outcome situations and the degree of decision-making latitude granted to the surrogate.

MEASUREMENTS

Surrogate understanding of patient goals for care with regard to four expected, disease-specific outcomes situations and of the degree of surrogate latitude in decision-making.

RESULTS

Three hundred thirteen patient-surrogate pairs completed the study. As measured according to kappa scores and in all four situations and in the degree of latitude, intervention group surrogates demonstrated a significantly higher degree of understanding of patient goals than control group surrogates. Intervention group kappa scores ranged from 0.61 to 0.78, whereas control group kappa scores ranged from 0.07 to 0.28.

CONCLUSION

Surrogates in the intervention group had a significantly better understanding of patient goals and preferences than surrogates in the control group. This finding is the first step toward ensuring that patient goals for care are known and honored.

Development of a tool to assess fidelity to a psycho-educational intervention

AIM

This paper is a description of a method to develop and conduct a customized psycho-educational intervention fidelity assessment as part of pilot work for an efficacy study. A tool designed to assess treatment fidelity to a psycho-education intervention for patients with end-stage renal disease and their surrogate decision makers, Sharing the Patient's Illness Representations to Increase Trust, is presented as an illustration.

BACKGROUND

Despite the specificity and idiosyncrasy of individual interventions and the call to systematically evaluate treatment fidelity, how to accomplish this goal has not been clarified. Tools to adequately measure treatment fidelity are lacking.

METHODS

We developed the Sharing the Patient's Illness Representations to Increase Trust Treatment Fidelity Assessment tool by identifying elements that were idiosyncratic to the intervention and those that could be adapted from existing tools. The tool has four components: overall adherence to the intervention content elements; pacing of the intervention delivery; overall dyad responsiveness; and, overall quality index of intervention delivery. The study was undertaken between 2006 and 2008.

RESULTS

Inter-rater reliability ranged from 0.80 to 0.87 for the four components. The tool showed utility in training and monitoring, such as detecting unplanned content elements delivered and the use of proscribed communication behaviours.

CONCLUSION

Psycho-educational interventions are one of the most common types of nursing interventions worldwide. Use of fidelity assessment tools customized to the individual interventions may enhance systematic evaluation of training and monitoring treatment fidelity.

Feasibility of discussing end-of-life care goals with inpatients using a structured, conversational approach: the go wish card game

Establishing goals of care is important in advance care planning. However, such discussions require a significant time investment on the part of trained personnel and may be overwhelming for the patient. The Go Wish card game was designed to allow patients to consider the importance of common issues at the end of life in a nonconfrontational setting. By sorting through their values in private, patients may present to their provider ready to have a focused conversation about end-of-life care. We evaluated the feasibility of using the Go Wish card game with seriously ill patients in the hospital. Of 133 inpatients approached, 33 (25%) were able to complete the game. The "top 10" values were scored based on frequency and adjusted for rank. The value selected of highest importance by the most subjects was "to be free from pain." Other highly ranked values concerned spirituality, maintaining a sense of self, symptom management, and establishing a strong relationship with health care professionals. Average time to review the patient's rank list after the patient sorted their values in private was 21.8 minutes (range: 6-45 minutes). The rankings from the Go Wish game are similar to those from other surveys of seriously ill patients. Our results suggest that it is feasible to use the Go Wish card game even in the chaotic inpatient setting to obtain an accurate portrayal of the patient's goals of care in a time-efficient manner.

The impact of advance care planning on end of life care in elderly patients: randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the impact of advance care planning on end of life care in elderly patients.

DESIGN

Prospective randomised controlled trial.

SETTING

Single centre study in a university hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

PARTICIPANTS

309 legally competent medical inpatients aged 80 or more and followed for six months or until death.

INTERVENTIONS

Participants were randomised to receive usual care or usual care plus facilitated advance care planning. Advance care planning aimed to assist patients to reflect on their goals, values, and beliefs; to consider future medical treatment preferences; to appoint a surrogate; and to document their wishes.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The primary outcome was whether a patient's end of life wishes were known and respected. Other outcomes included patient and family satisfaction with hospital stay and levels of stress, anxiety, and depression in relatives of patients who died.

RESULTS

154 of the 309 patients were randomised to advance care planning, 125 (81%) received advance care planning, and 108 (84%) expressed wishes or appointed a surrogate, or both. Of the 56 patients who died by six months, end of life wishes were much more likely to be known and followed in the intervention group (25/29, 86%) compared with the control group (8/27, 30%; P<0.001). In the intervention group, family members of patients who died had significantly less stress (intervention 5, control 15; P<0.001), anxiety (intervention 0, control 3; P=0.02), and depression (intervention 0, control 5; P=0.002) than those of the control patients. Patient and family satisfaction was higher in the intervention group.

CONCLUSIONS

Advance care planning improves end of life care and patient and family satisfaction and reduces stress, anxiety, and depression in surviving relatives. Trial registration Australian New Zealand clinical trials registry ACTRN12608000539336.

Family matters: dyadic agreement in end-of-life medical decision making

PURPOSE

We examined race/ethnicity and cultural context within hypothetical end-of-life medical decision scenarios and its influence on patient-proxy agreement.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Family dyads consisting of an older adult and 1 family member, typically an adult child, responded to questions regarding the older adult's preferences for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, artificial feeding and fluids, and palliative care in hypothetical illness scenarios. The responses of 34 Caucasian dyads and 30 African American dyads were compared to determine the extent to which family members could accurately predict the treatment preferences of their older relative.

RESULTS

We found higher treatment preference agreement among African American dyads compared with Caucasian dyads when considering overall raw difference scores (i.e., overtreatment errors can compensate for undertreatment errors). Prior advance care planning moderated the effect such that lower levels of advance care planning predicted undertreatment errors among African American proxies and overtreatment errors among Caucasian proxies. In contrast, no racial/ethnic differences in treatment preference agreement were found within absolute difference scores (i.e., total error, regardless of the direction of error).

IMPLICATIONS

This project is one of the first to examine the mediators and moderators of dyadic racial/cultural differences in treatment preference agreement for end-of-life care in hypothetical illness scenarios. Future studies should use mixed method approaches to explore underlying factors for racial differences in patient-proxy agreement as a basis for developing culturally sensitive interventions to reduce racial disparities in end-of-life care options.

A randomized trial of a representational intervention for cancer pain: does targeting the dyad make a difference?

OBJECTIVE

To determine the efficacy in overcoming attitudinal barriers to reporting cancer pain and using analgesics of an educational intervention presented to patients accompanied by a significant other (SO) as compared with patients alone.

DESIGN

Patient-SO pairs (N = 161) were randomized to the dyad condition (patient and SO received the intervention), solo condition (patient received the intervention), or care as usual. Dyad and solo conditions received the intervention at baseline (T1) and 2 and 4 weeks later.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Patients' and SOs' attitudes about analgesic use and patients' pain outcomes (pain severity, pain relief, interference with life, negative mood, and global quality of life [QOL]) at T1, 5 weeks later (T2), and 9 weeks later (T3).

RESULTS

Completers' analyses revealed no significant differences between groups at T2. At T3, patients in the dyad and the solo groups showed greater decreases in attitudinal barriers as compared with controls. T1-T3 changes in patients' barriers mediated between the dyad and solo interventions and pain severity, pain relief, pain interference, negative mood, and global QOL.

CONCLUSION

The intervention was no more efficacious when it was presented to dyads than to patients alone. Conditions under which SOs should be included in interventions need to be determined.

An individualized representational intervention to improve symptom management (IRIS) in older breast cancer survivors: three pilot studies

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES

To test the feasibility and acceptability of an individualized representational intervention to improve symptom management (IRIS) in older breast cancer survivors and test the short-term effects of an IRIS on symptom distress.

DESIGN

Two small randomized clinical trials and one pre-experimental study.

SETTING

Oncology clinic and community.

SAMPLE

41 women with breast cancer (aged 65 years and older) in pilot study 1, 20 in pilot study 2, and 21 in pilot study 3.

METHODS

In pilot study 1, women were randomized to the IRIS or usual care control. In pilot study 2, women were randomized to the IRIS or delayed IRIS (wait list) control. In pilot study 3, all women received the IRIS by telephone. Measures were collected at baseline, postintervention, and follow-up (up to four months).

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES

Feasibility, acceptability, symptom distress, symptom management behaviors, symptom management barriers, and quality of life.

FINDINGS

Across three pilot studies, 76% of eligible women participated, 95% completed the study, 88% reported the study was helpful, and 91% were satisfied with the study. Some measures of symptom distress decreased significantly after the IRIS, but quality of life was stable. Women in the IRIS group changed their symptom management behaviors more than controls.

CONCLUSIONS

Preliminary evidence supports the need for and feasibility of an IRIS.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING

Nurses may help older breast cancer survivors manage their numerous chronic symptoms more effectively by assessing women's beliefs about their symptoms and their current symptom management strategies.