Decision-making styles of seriously ill male Veterans for end-of-life care: Autonomists, Altruists, Authorizers, Absolute Trusters, and Avoiders

Patient altruism at the end of life: A scoping review

OBJECTIVES

The concept of altruism is evidenced in various disciplines but remains understudied in end-of-life (EOL) contexts. Patients at the EOL are often seen as passive recipients of care, whereas the altruism of professionals and families receives more research and clinical attention. Our aim was to summarize the state of the scientific literature concerning the concept of patient altruism in EOL contexts.

METHODS

In May 2023, we searched 11 databases for scientific literature on patient altruism in EOL contexts in consultation with a health information specialist. The scoping review is reported using the PRISMA checklist for scoping reviews. We used a data charting form to deductively extract data from the selected articles and then mapped data into 4 themes related to our research questions: how authors describe and employ the concept of patient altruism; expressions of patient altruism; consequences of patients' altruistic acts; and possible interventions fostering patient altruism.

RESULTS

Excluding duplicates, 2893 articles were retrieved; 33 were included in the final review. Altruism was generally considered as an act or intention oriented toward the benefit of a specific (known) or non-specific (generic) recipient. Patients expressed altruism through care and support, decisions to withhold treatment or actively hasten death, and engagement in advance care planning. Consequences of altruism were categorized in patient-centered (contribution to meaning in life and quality of life), non-patient-centered (leaving a positive impact and saving money), and negative consequences (generating feelings of guilt, exposing individuals with low self-esteem). Interventions to encourage altruism comprised specific interventions, providing opportunities to plan for future care, and recognizing and respecting the patients' altruistic motivations.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS

We identified heterogeneous and limited research conceptualization of patient altruism and its operationalization in palliative care settings. A deeper conceptual, empirical, and theoretical exploration of patient altruism in EOL is necessary.

Advance care plans for vulnerable and disadvantaged adults: systematic review and narrative synthesis

BACKGROUND

Evidence suggests that there is a gap in advance care planning (ACP) completion between vulnerable and disadvantaged populations compared with the general population. This review seeks to identify tools, guidelines or frameworks that have been used to support ACP interventions with vulnerable and disadvantaged adult populations as well as their experiences and outcomes with them. The findings will inform practice in ACP programmes.

METHODS

A systematic search of six databases from 1 January 2010 to 30 March 2022 was conducted to identify original peer-reviewed research that used ACP interventions via tools, guidelines or frameworks with vulnerable and disadvantaged adult populations and reported qualitative findings. A narrative synthesis was conducted.

RESULTS

Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Relatives, caregivers or substitute decision-makers were included in eight studies.

SETTINGS

hospital outpatient clinics (N=7), community settings (N=7), nursing homes (N=2), prison (N=1) and hospital (N=1). A variety of ACP tools, guidelines or frameworks were identified; however, the facilitator's skills and approach in delivering the intervention appeared to be as important as the intervention itself. Participants indicated mixed experiences, some positive, some negative and four themes emerged: uncertainty, trust, culture and decision-making behaviour. The most common descriptors relating to these themes were prognosis uncertainty, poor end-of-life communication and the importance of building trust.

CONCLUSION

The findings indicate that ACP communication could be improved. ACP conversations should incorporate a holistic and personalised approach to optimise efficacy. Facilitators should be equipped with the necessary skills, tools and information needed to assist ACP decision-making.

Decision-making styles of patients and general population in health care: A scoping review

OBJECTIVE

Decision-making styles form the backbone of effective decision-making and show promise as an important construct that warrants further attention. We investigated what is known about decision-making styles among patients and the general population in a health care setting.

METHODS

We used Arksey and O'Malley's framework and searched PubMed and CINAHL databases using relevant combinations of keywords and subject headings. Articles were limited to those published in English up to February 2020.

RESULTS

Sixteen articles met the inclusion criteria. We found that decision-making styles were described as role preferences or personality, psychological, and cognitive factors that influence decision-making. In the identified studies, the evidence was scarce regarding decision-making styles as the foundation for effective decision-making. Moreover, most studies were vague in the description of decision-making styles, offered little explanation of the concept, and varied substantially in the terminology, numbers, and types of decision-making styles and measurement methods.

CONCLUSIONS

Decision-making styles, as a dynamic process, have received little attention in health care and are rarely addressed in health communication research or investigations of decision-making support. Other frameworks that are not directly related to decision-making styles were used in most analyzed studies.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Decision-making styles in health care should be reinterpreted as a dynamic process that can be developed or changed.

Advance care planning and the parental geographical background in pediatric palliative home care: a retrospective chart review

The relevance to acknowledge the parental migration history in pediatric palliative care is widely recognized. However, its influence on integral parts of advance care planning (ACP) is unknown. In this non-interventional cohort study, we aimed at identifying systematic differences between pediatric palliative patients with varying parental countries of origin regarding medical orders for life-sustaining treatment and the location of patients' death. Two hundred eighty-eight pediatric cases in an ambulant pediatric palliative care setting in Germany were retrospectively analyzed using multinomial logistic regression models. Agreements on medical orders for life-sustaining treatment (MOLST) differed significantly between patients with varying parental countries of origin. Full code orders for life-sustaining treatment were made more often in Turkish families than in German families. There were no significant associations between the patients' location of death and the parental countries of origin. However, confounder-analysis revealed a strong association between the patients' underlying disease and the orders for life-sustaining treatment as well as the location of death.Conclusions: Even this study indicates that the parental geographical background as an important sociocultural aspect might have an impact on ACP decisions for children and adolescents with life-limiting conditions, other factors as the patients' underlying disease can be more crucial for decision making in pediatric palliative care. The reason for the differences found might lay in cultural preferences or barriers to appropriate care. The inclusion of sociocultural aspects in decision-making is crucial to guarantee culture-sensitive, patient-centered pediatric palliative care.

Rural Hispanic/Latino cancer patients’ perspectives on facilitators, barriers, and suggestions for advance care planning: A qualitative study

Objective

Hispanic/Latinos living in rural areas have limited healthcare resources, including palliative and hospice care. Moreover, little is known about advance care planning (ACP) among Hispanic/Latino cancer patients in rural areas. This study explores facilitators and barriers for ACP. It elicits suggestions to promote ACP among rural Hispanic/Latino cancer patients in a US/Mexico border region.

Methods

Hispanic/Latino cancer patients (n = 30) were recruited from a nonprofit cancer organization. Data were collected via in-person interviews. Interviews were transcribed and translated from Spanish to English. Data were uploaded into NVivo 12 and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results

A common theme for facilitators and barriers for ACP was safeguarding family. Additional facilitators included (1) Desire for honoring end-of-life (EoL) care wishes and (2) experience with EoL care decision making. Additional barriers include (1) Family's reluctance to participate in EoL communication and (2) Patient–clinicians’ lack of EoL communication. Practice suggestions include (1) Death education and support for family, (2) ACP education, and (3) Dialogue vs. documentation.

Significance of results

ACP functions not only as a decisional tool; its utility reflects complex dynamics in personal, social, and cultural domains. ACP approaches with this underserved population must consider family relationships as well as cultural implications, including language barriers.

Exploring the Uptake of Advance Care Planning in Older Adults: An Integrative Review

CONTEXT

Advance care planning (ACP) is essential to elicit goals, values, and preferences of care in older adults with serious illness and on trajectories of frailty. An exploration of ACP uptake in older adults may identify barriers and facilitators.

OBJECTIVE

To conduct an integrative review of research on the uptake of ACP in older adults and create a conceptual model of the findings.

METHODS

Using Whittemore and Knafl's methodology, we systematically searched four electronic databases of ACP literature in older adults from 1996 through December 2019. Critical appraisal tools were used to assess study quality, and articles were categorized according to level of evidence. Statistical and thematic analysis was then undertaken.

RESULTS

Among 1081 studies, 78 met inclusion criteria. Statistical analysis evaluated ACP and variables within the domains of demographics, psychosocial, disability and functioning, and miscellaneous. Thematic analysis identified a central category of enhanced communication, followed by categories of 1) provider role and preparation; 2) patient/family relationship patterns; 3) standardized processes and structured approaches; 4) contextual influences; and 5) missed opportunities. A conceptual model depicted categories and relationships.

CONCLUSIONS

Enhanced communication and ACP facilitators improve uptake of ACP. Clinicians should be cognizant of these factors. This review provides a guide for clinicians who are considering implementation strategies to facilitate ACP in real-world settings.

End-of-life decision making in the context of chronic life-limiting disease: a concept analysis and conceptual model

BACKGROUND

Conceptual ambiguities prevent advancements in end-of-life decision making in clinical practice and research.

PURPOSE

To clarify the components of and stakeholders (patients, caregivers, healthcare providers) involved in end-of-life decision making in the context of chronic life-limiting disease and develop a conceptual model.

METHOD

Walker and Avant's approach to concept analysis.

FINDINGS

End-of-life decision making is a process, not a discrete event, that begins with preparation, including decision maker designation and iterative stakeholder communication throughout the chronic illness (antecedents). These processes inform end-of-life decisions during terminal illness, involving: 1) serial choices 2) weighed in terms of potential outcomes 3) through patient and caregiver collaboration (attributes). Components impact patients' death, caregivers' bereavement, and healthcare systems' outcomes (consequences).

DISCUSSION

Findings provide a foundation for improved inquiry into and measurement of the end-of-life decision making process, accounting for the dose, content, and quality the antecedent and attribute factors that collectively contribute to outcomes.

Gender Differences in End-of-Life Care in Older Mexican American Adults

Mexican Americans (MAs), 1 of 10 subgroups of Latinos, are the largest and fastest growing Latino subgroup in the United States; yet, their access to end-of-life (EOL) care using hospice services is low. An investigation was needed into extant research-based knowledge about factors influencing EOL care decisions among MAs to guide health-care professionals in assisting MAs to make timely, acceptable, and satisfactory EOL care decisions. To determine whether gender was an influence on EOL decision-making among older MAs, CINAHL and PubMed were searched for articles published between 1994 and 2018. Relevant sources were also identified through the reference lists of review articles. Reports were included if they were written in English, involved participants aged 50 years and older who identified themselves as MA, and data derived directly from participants. Reports in which MAs were not equally represented in the sample, large databases, and instrumentation development and testing articles were excluded. Of the 345 unduplicated articles identified in our electronic search and the 47 identified through review articles, 22 met the inclusion criteria. Content analysis was conducted using a priori codes from the Ethno-Cultural Gerontological Nursing Model (ECGNM). Only 8 (36%) of the 22 articles reported on MA older adults' gendered experiences related to EOL decision-making. Results indicate an association between gender and EOL decision-making. As the older MA population grows, tackling disparities in EOL services use requires attention to how culture and gender influence EOL decision-making and care.

Advance care planning for older people: The influence of ethnicity, religiosity, spirituality and health literacy

In this discussion paper we consider the influence of ethnicity, religiosity, spirituality and health literacy on Advance Care Planning for older people. Older people from cultural and ethnic minorities have low access to palliative or end-of-life care and there is poor uptake of advance care planning by this group across a number of countries where advance care planning is promoted. For many, religiosity, spirituality and health literacy are significant factors that influence how they make end-of-life decisions. Health literacy issues have been identified as one of the main reasons for a communication gaps between physicians and their patients in discussing end-of-life care, where poor health literacy, particularly specific difficulty with written and oral communication often limits their understanding of clinical terms such as diagnoses and prognoses. This then contributes to health inequalities given it impacts on their ability to use their moral agency to make appropriate decisions about end-of-life care and complete their Advance Care Plans. Currently, strategies to promote advance care planning seem to overlook engagement with religious communities. Consequently, policy makers, nurses, medical professions, social workers and even educators continue to shape advance care planning programmes within the context of a medical model. The ethical principle of justice is a useful approach to responding to inequities and to promote older peoples' ability to enact moral agency in making such decisions.

Person-directed care planning in nursing homes: A scoping review

AIM

Federal regulations require nursing homes in the United States to support residents in directing their own care rather than having their care plans developed for them without their engagement, but knowledge of person-directed approaches to care planning in nursing homes is limited. The purpose of this study was to advance understanding of person-directed care planning (PDCP).

METHODS

A multidisciplinary research team conducted a scoping review on individual and family involvement in care planning, including literature from a variety of care contexts. Search results were systematically screened to identify literature that addressed individual or family involvement in care planning as a primary concern, and then analysed using thematic content analysis.

RESULTS

Several themes were identified, including definitions of the concept of PDCP, essential elements of PDCP, barriers, facilitators and outcomes. The concept of PDCP is informed by multiple disciplines, including humanist philosophy, disability rights and end-of-life care. Essential elements of PDCP include knowing the person, integrating the person's goals in care planning and updating care plans as individuals' needs or preferences change. Limited time for care planning in nursing homes hinders PDCP. Facilitators include regulatory mandates and humanist social trends. Outcomes of PDCP were found to be positive (e.g., increased independence), but were inconsistently assessed across studies.

CONCLUSION

This study offers pragmatic information that can support PDCP within nursing homes and insights for policy reform that may more effectively support PDCP.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

These findings can be used to guide implementation of PDCP.

Cultural Factors Influencing Advance Care Planning in Progressive, Incurable Disease: A Systematic Review With Narrative Synthesis

CONTEXT

Advance care planning (ACP) can improve end-of-life outcomes, but low uptake indicates it is less acceptable to patients of some cultural backgrounds.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to explore how cultural factors influence ACP for patients with progressive, incurable disease and how ACP might be made cross-culturally appropriate.

METHOD

We conducted a systematic literature review using narrative synthesis. Protocol was registered prospectively (PROSPERO CRD42017060441). Key words and subject headings of six databases (AMED, PsycINFO, Embase, Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Cochrane) were searched without time restrictions. Eligible studies reported original research published in full that included adult participants with progressive, incurable disease or their formal or informal caregivers. Study quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

RESULTS

Eight hundred and eighteen studies were screened. Twenty-seven were included: 20 quantitative, four qualitative, and three mixed methods. Most (20/30) studies were conducted in the U.S., where nonwhite ethnicity was associated with lower acceptability of formal, documented ACP processes. Cultural factors affecting ACP acceptability included religiosity, trust in the health care system, patient and clinician comfort discussing death, and patient attitudes regarding decision-making. Informal, communication-focused approaches to ACP appear more cross-culturally acceptable than formal processes. Clinician education in cultural competence is recommended. Study limitations included use of unvalidated tools and convenience samples and lack of reflexivity.

CONCLUSION

Many interconnected cultural factors influence the acceptability of ACP in progressive, incurable disease, although specific mechanisms remain unclear. A communication-focused approach to ACP may better meet the needs of culturally diverse populations.

Older Adult and Surrogate Perspectives on Serious, Difficult, and Important Medical Decisions

OBJECTIVES

To elicit decisions that diverse older adults and surrogates perceive as serious, difficult, or important and explore what helped them make those decisions.

DESIGN

Focus groups (N=13) in which participants were asked to recall serious, difficult, or important medical decisions and what helped them make those decisions.

SETTING

Clinics, support groups and senior centers.

PARTICIPANTS

Diverse English- and Spanish-speaking older adults (age: mean 78, range 64-89) and surrogates (age: mean 57, range 33-76) (29% African American, 26% white, 26% Asian or Pacific Islander, 19% Hispanic) (N=69).

MEASUREMENTS

We used thematic analysis to analyze transcripts.

RESULTS

We identified 168 decisions. Older adults from all racial and ethnic groups frequently recalled cancer treatment decisions and decisions about chronic illness management. Surrogates described decisions about transitions in care and medical crises. Older adults valued self-sufficiency and maximizing survival and relied on personal experiences as often as medical advice. In all racial and ethnic groups, surrogates valued avoiding suffering for loved ones.

CONCLUSION

Diverse older adults and surrogates perceive life-threatening illness and day-to-day decisions about chronic disease to be serious, difficult, and important. The surrogates' goal of avoiding suffering of older adults may differ from older adults' priorities of self-sufficiency and maximizing survival. Clinicians should support older adults and surrogates in identifying important and difficult decisions and learn about the values and information sources they bring to decision-making. With this knowledge, clinicians can customize decision support and achieve person-centered care.

How Surrogates Decide: A Secondary Data Analysis of Decision-Making Principles Used by the Surrogates of Hospitalized Older Adults

BACKGROUND

Many hospitalized adults do not have the capacity to make their own health care decisions and thus require a surrogate decision-maker. While the ethical standard suggests that decisions should focus on a patient's preferences, our study explores the principles that surrogates consider most important when making decisions for older hospitalized patients.

OBJECTIVES

We sought to determine how frequently surrogate decision-makers prioritized patient preferences in decision-making and what factors may predict their doing so.

DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS

We performed a secondary data analysis of a study conducted at three local hospitals that surveyed surrogate decision-makers for hospitalized patients 65 years of age and older.

MAIN MEASURES

Surrogates rated the importance of 16 decision-making principles and selected the one that was most important. We divided the surrogates into two groups: those who prioritized patient preferences and those who prioritized patient well-being. We analyzed the two groups for differences in knowledge of patient preferences, presence of advance directives, and psychological outcomes.

KEY RESULTS

A total of 362 surrogates rated an average of six principles as being extremely important in decision-making; 77.8% of surrogates selected a patient well-being principle as the most important, whereas only 21.1% selected a patient preferences principle. Advance directives were more common to the patient preferences group than the patient well-being group (61.3% vs. 44.9%; 95% CI: 1.01-3.18; p = 0.04), whereas having conversations with the patient about their health care preferences was not a significant predictor of surrogate group identity (81.3% vs. 67.4%; 95% CI: 0.39-1.14; p = 0.14). We found no differences between the two groups regarding surrogate anxiety, depression, or decisional conflict.

CONCLUSIONS

While surrogates considered many factors, they focused more often on patient well-being than on patient preferences, in contravention of our current ethical framework. Surrogates more commonly prioritized patient preferences if they had advance directives available to them.

Palliative Care in the Emergency Department

As the geriatric population increases in the United States, there is an increase in number of visits to emergency departments for end-of-life and palliative care. This provides the emergency physician with a unique opportunity to alleviate and prevent further suffering in this vulnerable population. Competency in communication strategies that support shared decision making and familiarity with medicolegal terminology increase physician confidence about addressing complaints at the end of life. Familiarity with evidence-based recommendations for symptom management of pain at the end of life aids the emergency physician in creating a positive experience for the patient and their loved ones.

Preliminary Identification of Coping Profiles Relevant to Surrogate Decision Making in the ICU

Objective

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a stressful environment for families of critically ill patients and these individuals are at risk to develop persistent psychological morbidity. Our study objective was to identify individual differences in coping with stress and information presentation preferences of respondents exposed to a simulated ICU experience.

Methods

Participants were recruited from a university and two community populations. Participants completed questionnaires that measured demographic information and characteristics that may be relevant to an individual’s ICU experience. Quality of life was measured by the EQ-5D, personality dimensions were examined with the abbreviated Big Five inventory, coping with stress was assessed with Brief COPE. Shared decision making preferences were assessed by the Degner Control Preferences Scale (CPS) and information seeking style was assessed with the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS). Social support was examined using an abbreviated version of the Social Relationship Index. Participants also completed a vignette-based simulated ICU experience, in which they made a surrogate decision on behalf of a loved one in the ICU.

Results

Three hundred forty-three participants completed the study. Three distinct coping profiles were identified: adaptive copers, maladaptive copers, and disengaged copers. Profiles differed primarily on coping styles, personality, quality of their closest social relationship, and history of anxiety and depression. Responses to the simulated ICU decision making experience differed across profiles. Disengaged copers (15%) were more likely to elect to refuse dialysis on behalf of an adult sibling compared to adaptive copers (7%) or maladaptive copers (5%) (p = 0.03). Notably, the MBSS and the CPS did not differ by coping profile.

Conclusion

Distinct coping profiles are associated with differences in responses to a simulated ICU experience. Tailoring communication and support to specific coping profiles may represent an important pathway to improving ICU experience for patients and families.

Faith, Family, Filiality, and Fate

Objective: What is the characterization of family involvement in health decisions, filial piety, religiosity/spirituality, and fatalism as they relate to attitudes/intentions toward end-of-life (EOL) planning/decision making among elderly Dominicans and Puerto Ricans in East Harlem, New York City? Method: An exploratory study using grounded theory and domain analysis was conducted with 51 elderly Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. Purposive and emerging themes were identified by three coders. Results: Purposive themes were family involvement in health decisions/filial piety and religiosity/spirituality/fatalism and for clinical EOL-related terms; emerging themes were accessing/using EOL care, autonomy, influence of death/dying on own future care decisions, and death/dying is a private matter. Implications: The recommendations for community members are to empower awareness of EOL issues, engage providers regarding cultural needs, and clarification of advance care planning (ACP) function; the recommendations for providers are to engage patients to enhance culturally responsive care, clarify ACP function, and ask patients about preference for roles of family and God in decisions; the recommendations for policy makers are to enhance palliative education/access and immigration status research protections.

Palliative care and the Indian neurologist

End-of-life care is an integral part of neurology practice, and neuropalliative medicine is an emerging neurology subspeciality. This begins with serious illness communication as a protocol-based process that depends on an evaluation of patient autonomy and accurate prognostication. Communication needs vary between chronic, life-limiting neurologic illnesses and acute brain injury. In an ideal situation, the patient's wishes are spelled out in advance care plans and living wills, and surrogates have only limited choices for implementation. Palliative care prepares for decline and death as an expected outcome and focuses on improving the quality of life for both the patients and their caregivers. In the Intensive Care Unit, this may require clarity on withholding and withdrawal of treatment. In all locations of care, the emphasis is on symptom control. Neurologists are the quintessential physicians, and our “dharma” is best served by empathetically bringing our technical knowledge and communication skills into easing this final transition for our patients and their families to the best of our ability.

Use of a values inventory as a discussion aid about end-of-life care: A pilot randomized controlled trial

Objective:

We examined the utility of a brief values inventory as a discussion aid to elicit patients' values and goals for end-of-life (EoL) care during audiotaped outpatient physician–patient encounters.

Method:

Participants were seriously ill male outpatients (n = 120) at a large urban Veterans Affairs medical center. We conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial, randomizing 60 patients to either the intervention (with the values inventory) or usual care. We used descriptive statistics and qualitative methods to analyze the data. We coded any EoL discussions and recorded the length of such discussions.

Results:

A total of 8 patients (13%) in the control group and 13 (23%) in the intervention group had EoL discussions with a physician (p = 0.77). All EoL discussions in the control group were initiated by the physician, compared with only five (38%) in the intervention group. Because most EoL discussions took place toward the end of the encounter, discussions were usually brief.

Significance of results:

The outpatient setting has been promoted as a better place for discussing EoL care than a hospital during an acute hospitalization for a chronic serious illness. However, the low effectiveness of our intervention calls into question the feasibility of discussing EoL care during a single outpatient visit. Allowing extra time or an extra visit for EoL discussions might increase the efficacy of advance care planning.