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Background: New national clinical guidelines are now available on advance care planning (ACP). Confidence in communication is important for implementation of the guidelines. This study aims to identify healthcare personnel's self-perceived confidence in communication about future medical care and patients' wishes at the end of life., Material and Method: Healthcare personnel in twelve geriatric units in South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority responded to an online questionnaire survey in autumn 2022. The four response alternatives for self-reported confidence - 'unconfident', 'fairly confident', 'very confident' and 'extremely confident'- are combined into two categories: 'limited confidence' ('unconfident' and 'fairly confident') and 'high confidence' ('very confident' and 'extremely confident')., Results: We received responses from 289 of the 470 (61.5 %) invited, with an average age of 37.8 ± 11.3 years, of whom 217 out of 289 (75 %) had more than five years of professional experience. Of the doctors, 15 out of 67 (22 %) reported limited confidence in communication about 'future deterioration of the patient's health condition', 20 out of 67 (30 %) about 'life-sustaining treatment' and 13 out of 67 (19 %) about 'preferences towards the end of life'. For other healthcare personnel, the corresponding responses were 119 out of 222 (54 %), 140 out of 222 (63 %) and 109 out of 222 (49 %)., Interpretation: Self-assessed confidence in communication about future deterioration, future medical care and the patient's own wishes at the end of life varies, and such confidence is limited among many health personnel in geriatric units. Measures appear to be needed to increase confidence in the communication and implementation of ACP in the Norwegian health service.

Background: The coronavirus pandemic has hit the oldest and frailest individuals hard, particularly patients and residents in nursing homes. In March 2020, we established a Covid-19 ward at a nursing home in Bergen, western Norway for elderly patients with Sars-CoV-2 infection and in the need of treatment and care in a primary health care facility. The aims of this study were to describe the organization of the ward, the clinical outcomes of infection, treatment, mortality rates in the population, the level of advanced care planning, and end-of-life care for those who died., Methods: We present patient characteristics, outcomes, vaccination status, treatment, decisions regarding treatment intensity upon clinical deterioration, and mortality for the patients in the ward. Clinical factors possibly related to a fatal outcome were analysed with chi square test (categorical variables) or t-test (continuous variables)., Results: 257 patients were included from March 2020 to April 2022. Fifty-nine patients (23.0%) developed respiratory failure. Ten patients (3.9%) were admitted to hospital. Advance care planning was undertaken for 245 (95.3%) of the patients. 30-day mortality rate decreased from 42 to 4% during the study period. Of the 29 (11.3%) patients who died, all were well alleviated in the terminal phase, and 26 (89.7%) of them had a Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) value ≥ 7. A high score for CFS, respiratory failure and respiratory co-infection were significantly associated with Covid-19 related death within 30 days., Conclusions: Covid-19-related mortality markedly decreased during the study period, and a high score for CFS was related to a fatal outcome. Thorough planning of treatment intensity upon deterioration, low hospitalization rates, and good relief for those who died suggest that dedicated Covid-19 wards in nursing homes can provide good treatment for the patients and relieve other nursing homes and specialist health care services., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Low socio-economic status can lead to poor patient outcomes, exacerbated by lack of integration between health and social care and there is a demand for developing new models of working., Aim: To improve connections between patients, local services and their communities to reduce unscheduled admissions., Design and Setting: A primary care cluster with areas of high deprivation, consisting of 11 general practices serving over 74,000 people., Method: A multi-disciplinary team with representatives from healthcare, local council and the third sector was formed to provide support for people with complex or social needs. A discharge liaison hub contacted patients following hospital discharge offering support, while cluster pharmacists led medicine reviews. Wellbeing Connectors were commissioned to act as a link to local wellbeing and social resources. Advance Care Planning was implemented to support personalised decision making., Results: Unscheduled admissions in the over 75 age group decreased following the changes, equating to over 800 avoided monthly referrals to assessment units for the cluster. Over 2,500 patients have been reviewed by the MDT since its inception with referrals to social prescribing groups, physiotherapy and mental health teams; these patients are 20% less likely to contact their GP after their case is discussed. An improved sense of wellbeing was reported by 80% of patients supported by wellbeing connectors. Staff feel better able to meet patient needs and reported an increased joy in working., Conclusion: Improved integration between health, social care and third sector has led to a reduction in admissions, improved patient wellbeing and has improved job satisfaction amongst staff., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Advance care planning (ACP) is increasingly recognised in the global agenda for dementia care. The European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) Taskforce on ACP in Dementia aimed to provide recommendations for policy initiatives and future research. We conducted a four-round Delphi study with a 33-country panel of 107 experts between September, 2021, and June, 2022, that was approved by the EAPC Board. Consensus was achieved on 11 recommendations concerning the regulation of advance directives, equity of access, and dementia-inclusive approaches and conversations to express patients' values. Identified research gaps included the need for an evidence-based dementia-specific practice model that optimises engagement and communication with people with fluctuating and impaired capacity and their families to support decision making, while also empowering people to adjust their decisions if their goals or preferences change over time. Policy gaps included insufficient health services frameworks for dementia-inclusive practice. The results highlight the need for more evidence and policy development that support inclusive ACP practice models., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests MN received research grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development outside of this work. LVdB reports research grants from EU NAVIGATE, PACE, INDUCT, and DISTINCT under European Commission grant agreements and from Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Flanders, Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship Francqui Foundation, Research Council University at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Kom Op Tegen Kanker (Flemish Stand Up to Cancer), Foundation for Alzheimer Research, and the King Baudouin Foundation. LVdB has received book royalties from Oxford University Press; payment for lectures from the Flemish Federation of Palliative Care, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven for developing the content of an e-learning module for physicians; and payment from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel for a lecture within the postgraduate course on palliative care for masters and medicine. PJL received contract payment from National Technical University Norway. IH received research grants from the Health Care Research Agency Czech Republic and the Department of Health Social Care in Prague. JTvdS received salary support from a European Research Council personal Consolidator career award and Leiden University Medical Center Department of Public Health and Primary Care. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Although interventions can increase advance care planning (ACP) engagement, it remains unclear which interventions to choose in primary care settings. This study compares a passive intervention (mailed materials) to an interactive intervention (group visits) on participant ACP engagement and experiences., Methods: We used mixed methods to examine ACP engagement at baseline and six months following two ACP interventions. Eligible patients were randomized to receive mailed materials or participate in two ACP group visits. We administered the 4-item ACP Engagement survey (n = 110) and conducted interviews (n = 23). We compared mean scores and percent change in ACP engagement, analyzed interviews with directed content analysis to understand participants' ACP experiences, and integrated the findings based on mailed materials or group visits intervention., Results: All participants demonstrated increased ACP engagement scores. At six months, group visit participants reported higher percent change in mean overall score compared with mailed materials participants (+8% vs +3%, P < .0001 ). Group visits participants reported that being prompted to think about end-of-life preferences, gaining knowledge about ACP, and understanding the value of completing ACP documentation influenced their ACP readiness. While both interventions encouraged patients to start considering and refining their end-of-life preferences, group visits made patients feel more knowledgeable about ACP, highlighted the importance of completing ACP documentation early, and sparked further ACP discussions with others., Conclusions: While primary care patients may benefit from mailed ACP materials, patients reported increased readiness after ACP group visits. Group visits emphasized the value of upstream preparation, ongoing conversations, and increased knowledge about ACP., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: None., (© 2023 Copyright by the American Board of Family Medicine.)

Abstract: Rapid response systems (RRS) have been introduced worldwide to reduce unpredicted in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) and in-hospital mortality. The role of advance care planning (ACP) in the management of critical patients has not yet been fully determined in Japan.We retrospectively assessed the characteristics of all inpatients with unpredicted IHCA in our hospital between 2016 and 2018. Yearly changes in the number of RRS activations and the incidence of unpredicted IHCA with or without code status discussion were evaluated from 2014 to 2018. Hospital standardized mortality ratios were assessed from the data reported in the annual reports by the National Hospital Organization.A total of 81 patients (age: 70.9 ± 13.3 years) suffered an unpredicted IHCA and had multiple background diseases, including heart disease (75.3%), chronic kidney disease (25.9%), and postoperative status (cardiovascular surgery, 18.5%). Most of the patients manifested non-shockable rhythms (69.1%); survival to hospital discharge rate was markedly lower than that with shockable rhythms (26.8% vs 72.0%, P < .001). The hospital standardized mortality ratios was maintained nearly constant at approximately 50.0% for 3 consecutive years. The number of cases of RRS activation markedly increased from 75 in 2014 to 274 patients in 2018; conversely, the number of unpredicted IHCA cases was reduced from 40 in 2014 to 18 in 2018 (P < .001). Considering the data obtained in 2014 and 2015 as references, the RRS led to a reduction in the relative risk of unpredicted IHCA from 2016 to 2018 (ie, 0.618, 95% confidence interval 0.453-0.843). The reduction in unpredicted IHCA was attributed partly to the increased number of patients who had discussed the code status, and a significant correlation was observed between these parameters (R2 = 0.992, P < .001). The reduction in the number of patients with end-stage disease, including congestive heart failure and chronic renal failure, paralleled the incidence of unpredicted IHCA.Both RRS and ACP reduced the incidence of unpredicted IHCA; RRS prevents progression to unpredicted IHCA, whereas ACP decreases the number of patients with no code status discussion and thus potentially reducing the patient subgroup progressing to an unpredicted IHCA., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background Patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) implanted as destination therapy may receive suboptimal preparation for and care at the end of life, but there is limited understanding of the reasons for these shortcomings. Exploring perceptions of individuals (caregivers and clinicians) who are closely involved in the end-of-life experience with patients with destination therapy LVADs can help identify key opportunities for improving care. Methods and Results We conducted semistructured qualitative interviews with 7 bereaved caregivers of patients with destination therapy LVADs and 10 interdisciplinary LVAD clinicians. Interviews explored perceptions of preparing for end of life, communicating about end of life, and providing and receiving end-of-life care, and were analyzed using a 2-step team-based inductive approach to coding and analysis. Six themes pertaining to end-of-life experiences were derived: (1) timing end-of-life discussions in the setting of unpredictable illness trajectories, (2) prioritizing end-of-life preparation and decision-making, (3) communicating uncertainty while providing support and hope, (4) lack of consensus on responsibility for end-of-life discussions, (5) perception of the LVAD team as invincible, and (6) divergent perceptions of LVAD withdrawal. Conclusions This study revealed 6 unique aspects of end-of-life care for patients with destination therapy LVADs as reported by clinicians and caregivers. Themes coalesced around communication, team-based care, and challenges unique to patients with LVADs at end of life. Programmatic changes may address some aspects, including training clinicians in LVAD-specific communication skills. Other aspects, such as standardizing the role of the palliative care team and developing practical interventions that enable timely advance care planning during LVAD care, will require multifaceted interventions.

Importance: There is widespread consensus on the challenges to meeting the end-of-life wishes of decedents in the US. However, there is broad but not always recognized success in meeting wishes among decedents 65 years and older., Objective: To assess how well end-of-life wishes of decedents 65 years and older are met in the last year of life., Design, Setting, and Participants: This quality improvement study involved 3 planned samples of family members or informants identified as the primary contact in the medical record of Kaiser Permanente Southern California decedents. The first sample was 715 decedents, 65 years or older, who died between April 1 and May 31, 2017. The second was a high-cost sample of 332 decedents, 65 years or older, who died between June 1, 2016, and May 31, 2017, and whose costs in the last year of life were in the top 10% of the costs of all decedents. The third was a lower-cost sample with 655 decedents whose costs were not in the top 10%. The survey was fielded between December 19, 2017, and February 8, 2018., Main Outcomes and Measures: Meeting end-of-life wishes, discussions with next of kin and physicians, types of discordant care, and perceptions of amount of care received., Results: Surveys were completed by 715 of the 2281 next of kin in the all-decedent sample (mean [SD] decedent age, 80.9 [8.9] years; 361 [50.5%] male) for a 31% response rate; in 332 of the 1339 next of kin in the high-cost sample (mean [SD] decedent age, 75.5 [7.1] years; 194 [48.4%] male) for a 25% response rate; and in 659 of 2058 in the lower-cost sample (mean [SD] decedent age, 81.6 [8.8] years) for a 32% response rate. Respondents noted that high percentages of decedents received treatment that was concordant with their desires: 601 (88.9%) had their wishes met, 39 (5.9%) received a treatment they did not want, and 554 (84.1%) filled out an advance directive. A total of 509 respondents (82.5%) believed the amount of care was the right amount. Those with the highest costs had their wishes met at lower rates than those with lower costs (250 [80.1%] vs 553 [89.6%])., Conclusions and Relevance: In this Kaiser Permanente Southern California cohort, a large proportion of decedents 65 years and older had end-of-life discussions and documentation, had their wishes met, and received the amount of care they thought appropriate.

Background: The high risk of mechanical ventilation with COVID hospitalizations requires health-care systems to rapidly innovate advance care planning (ACP) delivery for hospitalized patients to promote goal-concordant care., Measures: Assess the impact of a social work and care management intervention on the proportion of admitted patients each week with a Medical Durable Power of Attorney (MDPOA)., Intervention: Social workers were consulted to assist with identification of a surrogate decision maker and completion of MDPOA forms for hospitalized patients. This intervention utilized change management strategies and was implemented between April and June 2020., Outcomes: From a baseline average of 30.1%, the weekly percentage of admitted patients with MDPOA forms rose to 42.8% with correlating evidence of nonrandom special cause variation., Lessons Learned: Use of change management strategies resulted in rapid implementation of an effective ACP initiative. Ongoing needs include focusing on intervention sustainability and education of interprofessional providers about ACP processes., (Copyright © 2020 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Advance care planning (ACP) is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously identified barriers to ACP include lack of time during patient visits, billing, clinician and patient discomfort and lack of resources, and difficulties with documenting and accessing ACP documents. Here we describe new challenges and new opportunities for ACP that have arisen from the COVID-19 pandemic, both due to the complexities of the illness and expedited changes in some of the stagnancies in the health care system. The shared risk for COVID-19 that all people face brings urgency to institutional policy changes to ACP form completion. However, research should assess acceptability and effectiveness of these strategies., Competing Interests: Conflict of interests: None., (© Copyright 2021 by the American Board of Family Medicine.)

Aim: This retrospective review examined the influence of age and severity of comorbidities on goals-of-care in advance care plans (ACPlans) and concordance between these wishes and care received during hospital admission., Methods: The medical records of 149 people with an ACPlan admitted to a public hospital were reviewed to evaluate concordance with treatment. The associations between age and comorbidities and goals-of-care were determined using contingency tables and logistic regression analyses., Results: The majority of the review cohort were Caucasian and elderly, with people from minority ethnic groups under-represented compared to census data. Increasing age had a measurable influence on the choice of goal-of-care, whereas comorbidity severity had less influence on this decision. In 60 of the 411 hospital admissions the patient was classified as incompetent, with the goal-of-care adhered to in 59 of these cases and treatment preferences adhered to in six of seven cases. Fifty-five people had died since writing their ACPlan, with 63% dying at their preferred place or with no preference stated., Conclusions: Age and to a lesser extent the severity of comorbidities influence the choice of goal-of-care in an ACPlan. Our review also showed that end-of-life care appeared to adhere to the instructions in the plan., Competing Interests: Nil.

Background: Many people are dying from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but consensus guidance on palliative care in COVID-19 is lacking. This new life-threatening disease has put healthcare systems under pressure, with the increased need of palliative care provided to many patients by clinicians who have limited prior experience in this field. Therefore, we aimed to make consensus recommendations for palliative care for patients with COVID-19 using the Convergence of Opinion on Recommendations and Evidence (CORE) process., Methods: We invited 90 international experts to complete an online survey including stating their agreement, or not, with 14 potential recommendations. At least 70% agreement on directionality was needed to provide consensus recommendations. If consensus was not achieved on the first round, a second round was conducted., Results: 68 (75.6%) experts responded in the first round. Most participants were experts in palliative care, respiratory medicine or critical care medicine. In the first round, consensus was achieved on 13 recommendations based upon indirect evidence and clinical experience. In the second round, 58 (85.3%) out of 68 of the first-round experts responded, resulting in consensus for the 14th recommendation., Conclusion: This multi-national task force provides consensus recommendations for palliative care for patients with COVID-19 concerning: advance care planning; (pharmacological) palliative treatment of breathlessness; clinician-patient communication; remote clinician-family communication; palliative care involvement in patients with serious COVID-19; spiritual care; psychosocial care; and bereavement care. Future studies are needed to generate empirical evidence for these recommendations., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: M. Ekström has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: D.C. Currow reports that he is an unpaid advisory board member for Helsinn Pharmaceuticals, is a paid consultant and receives payment for intellectual property with Mayne Pharma, and is a consultant with Specialised Therapeutics Australia Pty. Ltd. Conflict of interest: M.J. Johnson reports institutional payments for consultancy from Mayne Pharma, during the conduct of the study. Conflict of interest: M. Maddocks has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: A.K. Simonds has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: T. Tonia is an ERS methodologist. Conflict of interest: K. Marsaa reports personal fees from GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chiesi Pharma, Kyowa Kirin AB and Norgine, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: D.J.A. Janssen reports personal fees for lectures from Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim and AstraZeneca, outside the submitted work., (Copyright ©ERS 2020.)

Background: As part of a broader study to improve the capacity for advance care planning (ACP) in primary healthcare settings, the research team set out to develop and validate a computerized algorithm to help primary care physicians identify individuals at risk of death, and also carried out focus groups and interviews with relevant stakeholder groups. Interviews with patients and family caregivers were carried out in parallel to algorithm development and validation to examine (1) views on early identification of individuals at risk of deteriorating health or dying; (2) views on the use of a computerized algorithm for early identification; and (3) preferences and challenges for ACP., Methods: Fourteen participants were recruited from two Canadian provinces. Participants included individuals aged 65 and older with declining health and self-identified caregivers of individuals aged 65 and older with declining health. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via telephone. A qualitative descriptive analytic approach was employed, which focused on summarizing and describing the informational contents of the data., Results: Participants supported the early identification of patients at risk of deteriorating health or dying. Early identification was viewed as conducive to planning not only for death, but for the remainder of life. Participants were also supportive of the use of a computerized algorithm to assist with early identification, although limitations were recognized. While participants felt that having family physicians assume responsibility for early identification and ACP was appropriate, questions arose around feasibility, including whether family physicians have sufficient time for ACP. Preferences related to the content of and approach to ACP discussions were highly individualized. Required supports during ACP include informational and emotional supports., Conclusions: This work supports the role of primary care providers in the early identification of individuals at risk of deteriorating health or death and the process of ACP. To improve ACP capacity in primary healthcare settings, compensation systems for primary care providers should be adjusted to ensure appropriate compensation and to accommodate longer ACP appointments. Additional resources and more established links to community organizations and services will also be required to facilitate referrals to relevant community services as part of the ACP process.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its sequelae have created scenarios of scarce medical resources, leading to the prospect that health care systems have faced or will face difficult decisions about triage, allocation, and reallocation. These decisions should be guided by ethical principles and values, should not be made before crisis standards have been declared by authorities, and, in most cases, will not be made by bedside clinicians. Do not attempt resuscitation and withholding and withdrawing decisions should be made according to standard determination of medical appropriateness and futility, but there are unique considerations during a pandemic. Transparent and clear communication is crucial, coupled with dedication to provide the best possible care to patients, including palliative care. As medical knowledge about COVID-19 grows, more will be known about prognostic factors that can guide these difficult decisions., (Copyright © 2020 American College of Cardiology Foundation. All rights reserved.)

Background: Although patient-centred care has become increasingly important across all medical specialties, when it comes to end of life care, research has shown that treatments ordered are not often concordant with people's expressed preferences. Patient and family engagement in Advance Care Planning (ACP) in the primary care setting could improve the concordance between patients' wishes and the healthcare received when patients cannot speak for themselves. The aim of this study was to better understand the barriers faced by older patients regarding talking to their family members and family physicians about ACP., Methods: In this multi-site cross-sectional study, three free text questions regarding reasons patients found it difficult to discuss ACP with their families or their family physicians were part of a self-administered questionnaire about patients' knowledge of and engagement in ACP. The questionnaire, which included closed ended questions followed by three probing open ended questions, was distributed in 20 family practices across 3 provinces in Canada. The free text responses were analyzed using thematic analysis and form the basis of this paper., Results: One hundred two participants provided an analyzable response to the survey when asked why they haven't talked to someone about ACP. Two hundred fifty-four answered the question about talking to their physician and 340 answered the question about talking to family members. Eight distinct themes emerged from the free text response analysis: 1. They were too young for ACP; 2. The topic is too emotional; 3. The Medical Doctor (MD) should be responsible for bringing up ACP 4. A fear of negatively impacting the patient-physician relationship; 5. Not enough time in appointments; 6. Concern about family dynamics; 7. It's not a priority; and 8. A lack of knowledge about ACP., Conclusions: Patients in our sample described many barriers to ACP discussions, including concerns about the effect these discussions may have on relationships with both family members and family physicians, and issues relating to patients' knowledge and interpretation of the importance, responsibility for, or relevance of ACP itself. Family physicians may be uniquely placed to leverage the longitudinal, person- centred relationship they have with patients to mitigate some of these barriers.

Background: People who engage in advance care planning (ACP) are more likely to receive health care that is concordant with their goals at the end of life. Little discussion of ACP occurs in primary care., Objective: The objective of this study was to describe primary care clinicians' perspectives on having ACP conversations with their patients., Methods: We conducted a survey of family physicians and non-physician clinicians in primary care in 2014-2015. We compared family physicians and non-physician clinicians on willingness, confidence, participation and acceptability for other clinicians to engage in six aspects of ACP (initiating, exchanging information, decision coaching, finalizing plans, helping communicate plans with family members and other health professionals) on scales from 0 = not at all/extremely unacceptable to 6 = very/all the time/extremely acceptable., Results: The response rate was 72% (n = 117) among family physicians and 69% (n = 64) among non-physician clinicians. Mean ratings (standard deviation [SD]) of willingness were high (4.5 [1.4] to 5.0 [1.2] for physicians; 3.4 [1.8] to 4.6 [1.6] non-physician clinicians). There was little participation (mean ratings 2.4 [1.7] to 2.7 [1.6] for physicians, 1.0 [1.5] to 1.4 [1.7] for non-physician clinicians). Non-physician clinicians rated confidence statistically significantly lower than physicians for all ACP aspects. Acceptability for non-physician clinician involvement was high in both groups (mean acceptability ratings greater than 4)., Conclusion: Current engagement of primary care clinicians in ACP is low. Given the high willingness and acceptability for non-physician clinician involvement, increasing the capacity of non-physician clinicians could enable uptake of ACP in primary care., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press.)

INTRODUCTION Internationally, the inclusion of pharmacists into general practice as clinical pharmacy facilitators has improved patient outcomes. However, clinical pharmacists are relatively new to southern New Zealand general practices and their range of services has not been studied. AIMS To describe the implementation of clinical pharmacist services in general practices in the Southern region; to examine the tasks conducted by clinical pharmacy facilitators; and to determine the characteristics of patients who access this service. METHODS The establishment and development of the clinical pharmacy facilitator role was determined by documentation held within the local Primary Health Organisation. The activities performed by clinical pharmacy facilitators were collected from patient medical records for the period 31 March 2015 to 31 March 2018. To describe the characteristics of patients receiving these services, a retrospective case note review of patients seen by the facilitators was conducted. RESULTS The clinical pharmacy facilitator role was initiated with three pharmacists in three geographical locations across the region. Within 18 months, the number of facilitators was increased to eight. As a result of collaboration with the general practice team, 42% of referrals came from general practitioners directly. Overall, 2621 medicine-related problems were identified in 2195 patients. Dosage adjustment was the most common recommendation made by pharmacy facilitators. They consulted mostly older patients and patients taking five or more medicines. DISCUSSION With effective collaboration, clinical pharmacy facilitators can play a key role in optimisation of medicines therapy.

Objective: To examine secondary care consultant clinicians' experiences of conducting conversations about treatment escalation with patients and their relatives, using the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) process., Design: Semi-structured interviews following ward round observations., Setting: Two National Health Service hospitals in England., Participants: Fifteen medical and surgical consultants from 10 specialties, observed in 14 wards., Analysis: Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis., Results: Three themes were developed: (1) determining when and with whom to conduct a ReSPECT conversation; (2) framing the ReSPECT conversation to manage emotions and relationships and (3) reaching ReSPECT decisions. The results showed that when timing ReSPECT conversations, consultant clinicians rely on their predictions of a patient's short-term prognosis; when framing ReSPECT conversations, consultant clinicians seek to minimise distress and maximise rapport and when involving a patient or a patient's relatives in decision-making discussions, consultant clinicians are guided by their level of certainty about the patient's illness trajectory., Conclusions: The management of uncertainty about prognoses and about patients' emotional reactions is central to secondary care consultant clinicians' experiences of timing and conducting ReSPECT conversations., Competing Interests: Competing interests: CH is a member of the ReSPECT national working group and was involved in the evaluation of ReSPECT. GDP is a member of the ReSPECT national working group and held a leading role in the development of ReSPECT; however, GDP was not involved in data collection or analysis related to the present study. A-MS, FG, CH, KC and GDP received grants from the UK National Institute of Health Research during the study., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

Background: 52% of all deaths in Norway occur in nursing homes. Still advance care planning (ACP) is scarce and heterogeneous. To improve the implementation and practice of ACP in nursing homes, knowledge about health care professionals' views on ACP is vital. The objective of this study is to explore nurses and physicians' aims and experiences with carrying out ACP in nursing homes., Methods: Semi-structured group interviews were conducted with 20 health care professionals, recruited from nursing homes where ACP was performed regularly. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data., Results: The primary aim of the nursing home professionals when doing ACP in nursing homes were to build alliances with next of kin to avoid misunderstandings and future conflicts. Two main experiences with ACP were described: i) due to the sensitivity of ACP issues, it was important to balance directness with being sensitive, and ii) when the physicians raised questions concerning future medical treatment, the answers from residents as well as next of kin were often hesitant and unclear., Conclusion: Our study add insights into how ACP is practiced in nursing homes and the professionals' agenda. A focus on medical issues and achieving consensus with next of kin may result in lack of involvement of the residents and limited awareness of the residents' needs. Interdisciplinary approaches, ACP-training and tailored guidelines may improve the implementation and practice of ACP.

Context: Little attention has been given to social environmental factors associated with advance care planning (ACP) among African Americans or people living with advanced HIV (PLHIV)., Objectives: The present study aimed to identify support network factors that affect the likelihood of naming a decision-maker and of talking to family/friends and doctors about ACP among vulnerable PLHIV., Methods: PLHIV were recruited from a large urban HIV clinic. A social support network inventory was used to calculate number of persons available for various types of support. Characteristics of network members were also collected. Multivariable logistic regression models were fit to examine associations between social network factors and ACP discussion, adjusting for age, sex, education, and total number of network members., Results: The sample (N = 370) was mostly African American (95%), male (56%), and 48% had less than a high school education. Almost half the sample (48%) had talked to their family/friends or doctor about ACP, and 34% had named a medical decision-maker. Adjusted analysis revealed that talking about ACP with family/friends was associated with female sex and a larger closer support network who provided health information and physical assistance. Talking to doctors about ACP was associated with larger support networks who provided physical assistance but lower numbers from whom emotional support was received. Naming a decision-maker was associated with greater numbers of network members who provided emotional support, health information, and medication adherence reminders., Conclusion: The findings revealed aspects of family/support network structures and caregiving function associated with ACP in a population with often vital yet vulnerable networks., (Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Despite the documented and well known patient benefits of ACP, the completion of ACP, only a minority of patients, during the advanced or EOL stage of their illnesses, receive such care. The misconceptions about ACP for healthcare providers, such as nurses, might become potential barriers to the effective implication of ACP. Also, from the transcultural perspective, it is evident essential to explore Taiwanese nurses' attitudes, knowledge, and actions of ACP. The purposes of this study were to explore the implication of ACP or hospice care for nurses caring for non-cancer chronic illness patients at a regional teaching hospital in Taiwan; and, to identify predictors of those nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and actions toward ACP., Methods: This cross-sectional study with a purposive sample of 218 nurses was conducted at a teaching hospital in southern Taiwan. Structured questionnaires were employed and data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVAs, Pearson's correlation and multiple regressions., Results: 16.1% of Taiwanese physicians actively initiated ACP issues or conversations with patients or their family members. Nurses' attitudes toward ACP were fairly positive but their knowledge about ACP was insufficient and actions of ACP were not positively executed. The predictors of ACP-Knowledge (ACP-K) included position title, education hours and lacking of educational training. The predictors of ACP-Attitude (ACP-A) included ACP-K and "fear of patient or family member not accepting", whereas ACP-A, position title, "patients do not feel necessary" and "not sure physician's concern" were the predictors of ACP-Act., Conclusion: Continuous education and training for nurses regarding ACP needs to be improved by taking those predictors found in this current study into account, and more studies on the nurse's role in ACP also should be further examined., Trial Registration: KAFGH 106-012. Date of registration 1 May 2017.

Background: Research in Taiwan has indicated that advance care planning is rarely undertaken in long-term care facilities. The purpose of this study was to develop an advance care planning interview guideline and care model to facilitate the process of advance care planning for residents and their families in long-term care facilities., Methods: This study follows an action research design. Cycles of planning, action, observation, and reflection were planned and modified based on the results of interviews with residents and their families as well as meetings with staff. To establish the interview guideline and care model through this action research study, residents and their families were interviewed separately. The researcher subsequently held meetings with staff members to evaluate the results and identify problems during each advance care planning process. This information was synthesised and used to modify the care model for implementation with the next resident-family pair. This process was performed a total of ten times., Results: This study included residents (N = 10), their families (N = 20), and medical staff (N = 4) at a long-term care facility. The interviews and meetings were audio recorded, transcribed, and subjected to a simple thematic analysis together with the field notes and reflection logs. Four themes emerged from the data related to: opening the conversation with the interview guidelines about the life story of residents; continuing life stories to the quality of remaining years of the residents; gradually changing the topic to the end-of-life care issues; and concluding the conversation by explaining the content of advance directives and hospice care., Conclusions: The advance care planning care model was implemented following logical thinking from a Chinese perspective. This consisted of opening, developing, changing, and concluding through the views of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The research findings indicate that the model successfully facilitated the process of advance care planning for residents and their families.

Background: Primary care clinics need sustainable, population-based approaches to engage patients in advance care planning (ACP). Patient portal-based ACP tools may provide an option for patient engagement., Objective: To increase ACP outcomes by engaging older adults through portal-based ACP tools, including an electronic Medical Durable Power of Attorney (MDPOA) form., Methods: Geriatric clinic pilot of a multi-modal population-based outreach strategy for portal-based ACP tools. Outreach was to patients (n = 105) who were 65 years and older with an active portal account, no cognitive impairment, and no MDPOA on file. Patients received a motivational message via the portal and, if not read within 2 weeks, a mailed postcard about the portal-based ACP tools. Primary outcome was composite of any ACP action at 1-year including 1) new advance directive (AD) in the electronic health record, 2) use of portal-based ACP tools, or 3) documented ACP discussion with a provider., Results: Sixty-five older adults read the electronic message at 12 months. Seventeen (16%) engaged in at least 1 ACP action. Fourteen of 17 engaged by adding an AD to their record. More patients completed an AD on article or brought a previously completed AD to clinic, compared with choosing to complete an electronic MDPOA via the portal., Conclusions: Brief motivational messages about ACP via a patient portal is feasible and may increase ACP outcomes for older adults in primary care. Future studies should evaluate population-based portal outreach strategies in combination with team-based workflows to enhance patient engagement in ACP., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: none declared., (© Copyright 2019 by the American Board of Family Medicine.)

Background: The need for long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) is usually a sign of advanced disease, which could trigger advance care planning. However, LTOT is used in patients with different characteristics and multiple diagnoses beyond COPD. We studied the factors associated with survival in an unselected sample of subjects who started LTOT., Methods: We conducted a retrospective study that included 195 subjects for whom LTOT was initiated in Tampere University Hospital from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2015, and followed up until December 31, 2017., Results: The most frequent diseases that caused the need for LTOT were COPD and interstitial lung diseases. Most of the subjects (69%) died during the study period; the median survival time was 2.2 y. The subjects with interstitial lung disease as a primary disease for LTOT had a shorter survival time (median 0.9 y) compared with those with COPD (median 2.4 y, P < .001). Survival was shorter in the subjects ages >75 y (median 1.4 y) compared with those who were ages ≤75 y (median 2.8 y, P = .001) and also in those who required help with daily activities (median 1.2 y) compared with those who did not (median 3.3 y, P < .001). In multivariate analysis, a diagnosis of interstitial lung disease (hazard ratio 2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.2), Charlson comorbidity index (hazard ratio 1.26, 95% Cl 1.11-1.43), and required help in activities of daily living (hazard ratio 2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.1) were associated with impaired survival., Conclusions: The survival of the subjects who started LTOT varied greatly. The subjects with interstitial lung disease and those who required assistance with activities of daily living were at risk of dying in ∼1 y, which suggested that advance care planning should be directed especially to these patients., Competing Interests: The authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2019 by Daedalus Enterprises.)

Given the barriers to advance care planning (ACP) and low utilization of outpatient advance directives in hospital settings, it is unclear if ACP in primary care for adults who have experienced homelessness is effective and a valuable use of clinical time. As part of our ACP Project, we examined the feasibility and outcomes of ACP in primary care for patients who have experienced homelessness. We found that such efforts had significant impacts on patients' hospital care and allowed their wishes to be honored when they lost capacity for medical decision-making, particularly at the end of life. Here, we present six case studies demonstrating the outcomes of ACP in primary care for homeless adults and highlight lessons learned. To our knowledge, this is the first case series showing how ACP for homeless adults in primary care has been utilized during hospital care. Based on our findings, we believe that outpatient ACP even for the most socially vulnerable patients is feasible, often impactful, and should be integrated into routine primary care.

Objective: The purpose of this randomised trial is to evaluate the efficacy of a decision support intervention for serious illness decisions (the Plan Well Guide decision aid; www.PlanWellguide.com) in increasing the engagement of substitute decision-makers (SDMs) in the patient's advance care planning process (ie, 'ACP engagement'), specifically the SDM's confidence and readiness for the role in the future., Methods and Analysis: This study is a parallel group randomised controlled trial. We aim to enrol 90 participant dyads: patients aged 65 years and older attending outpatient healthcare settings and with indicators they would be at high risk of needing future medical decisions and their SDM. The intervention is the Plan Well Guide decision aid, administered to the patient by a facilitator, with the SDM present. The primary endpoint is change after 3 months in the SDM's ACP engagement using a validated measure of behavioural change (SDM's knowledge, contemplation, self-efficacy and readiness) to enact the role. The secondary endpoints are (1) ACP engagement of the patient measured by a validated survey; (2) change in SDM decisional conflict regarding involvement in future decision-making and (3) postintervention patient decisional conflict regarding preference for life-sustaining treatments. Primary and secondary continuous outcomes will be analysed using the linear regression. The mean difference and 95% CIs will be reported., Ethics and Dissemination: Approval was received August 2017 (2017-3714-GRA) from the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board. We plan to disseminate trial results in peer-reviewed journals, at national and international conferences, and via our web-based knowledge translation platforms., Trial Registration Number: NCT03239639; Pre-results., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Context: Being diagnosed with cancer often forces patients and families to make difficult medical decisions. How patients think they and others will feel in the future, termed affective predictions, may influence these decisions. These affective predictions are often biased, which may contribute to suboptimal care outcomes by influencing decisions related to palliative care and advance care planning., Objectives: This study aimed to translate perspectives from the decision sciences to inform future research about when and how affective predictions may influence decisions about palliative care and advance care planning., Methods: A systematic search of two databases to evaluate the extent to which affective predictions have been examined in the palliative care and advance care planning context yielded 35 relevant articles. Over half utilized qualitative methodologies (n = 21). Most studies were conducted in the U.S. (n = 12), Canada (n = 7), or European countries (n = 10). Study contexts included end of life (n = 10), early treatment decisions (n = 10), pain and symptom management (n = 7), and patient-provider communication (n = 6). The affective processes of patients (n = 20), caregivers (n = 16), and/or providers (n = 12) were examined., Results: Three features of the palliative care and advance care planning context may contribute to biased affective predictions: 1) early treatment decisions are made under heightened emotional states and with insufficient information; 2) palliative care decisions influence life domains beyond physical health; and 3) palliative care decisions involve multiple people., Conclusion: Biases in affective predictions may serve as a barrier to optimal palliative care delivery. Predictions are complicated by intense emotions, inadequate prognostic information, involvement of many individuals, and cancer's effect on non-health life domains. Applying decision science frameworks may generate insights about affective predictions that can be harnessed to solve challenges associated with optimal delivery of palliative care., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Identification of surrogate decision makers (SDMs) is an important part of advance care planning for hospitalized patients. Despite its importance, the best methods for engaging residents to sustainably improve SDM documentation have not been identified., Objective: We implemented a hospital-wide quality improvement initiative to increase identification and documentation of SDMs in the electronic health record (EHR) for hospitalized patients, utilizing a Housestaff Quality and Safety Council (HQSC)., Methods: EHR documentation of SDMs for all adult patients admitted to a tertiary academic hospital, excluding psychiatry, were tracked and grouped by specialty in a weekly run chart during the intervention period (July 2015 through April 2016). This also continued postintervention. Interventions included educational outreach for residents, monthly plan-do-study-act cycles based on performance feedback, and a financial incentive of a one-time payment of 0.75% of a resident's salary put into the retirement account of each resident, contingent on meeting an SDM documentation target. Comparisons were made using statistical process control and chi-square tests., Results: At baseline, SDMs were documented for 11.1% of hospitalized adults. The intervention period included 9146 eligible admissions. Hospital-wide SDM documentation increased significantly and peaked near the financial incentive deadline at 48% (196 of 407 admissions, P < 001). Postintervention, hospital-wide SDM documentation declined to 30% (134 of 446 admissions, P < .001), but remained stable., Conclusions: This resident-led intervention sustainably increased documentation of SDMs, despite a decline from peak rates after the financial incentive period and notable differences in performance patterns by specialty admitting service., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: The authors declare they have no competing interests.

Context: Volunteer involvement may support organizations to initiate and operationalize complex interventions such as advance care planning (ACP)., Objectives: A scoping review was conducted to map existing research on volunteer involvement in ACP and to identify gaps in current knowledge base., Methods: We followed the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. The review included studies of any design reporting original research. ACP was defined as any intervention aimed at supporting people to consider and communicate their current and future health treatment goals in the context of their own preferences and values. Studies were included if they reported data relating to volunteers at any stage in the delivery of ACP., Results: Of 11 studies identified, nine different ACP models (initiatives to improve uptake of ACP) were described. Most of the models involved volunteers facilitating ACP conversations or advance care directive completion (n = 6); and three focused on ACP education, training, and support. However, a framework for volunteer involvement in ACP was not described; the studies often provided limited detail of the scope of volunteers' roles in ACP, and in three of the models, volunteers delivered ACP initiatives in addition to undertaking other tasks, in their primary role as a volunteer navigator. Increased frequency of ACP conversation or documentation was most commonly used to evaluate the effectiveness of the studies, with most showing a trend toward improvement., Conclusions: Current literature on volunteer involvement in ACP is lacking a systematic approach to implementation. We suggest future research should focus on person-centered outcomes related to ACP to evaluate the effectiveness of volunteer involvement., (Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background Stroke survivors have high rates of mortality and recurrent stroke. Stroke patients are often unable to participate in decision making, highlighting the need for advance care planning ( ACP ) in poststroke care. We sought to better understand experiences and perceptions around stroke risk and ACP in our stroke clinic. Methods and Results Clinic patients completed the Planning After Stroke Survival survey assessing (1) advance directive ( AD ) documentation and ACP conversations, (2) factors associated with ADs and ACP , (3) perceptions of stroke risk, and (4) ACP needs. We used a physician survey and the electronic medical record to assess clinical and demographic information. We collected 219 surveys (78% response rate). Forty-five percent reported having completed ADs , although the correlation between patient report and EMS documentation of ADs was low. Most patients (73%) had discussed ACP , and 58% desired additional conversation. Predictors of completing ADs included age (≥65 years; odds ratio, 4.8; 95% CI, 2.3-10.1), white race (odds ratio, 3.1; 95% CI , 1.2-7.8), milder poststroke disability (modified Rankin Scale score ≤1; odds ratio, 2.9; 95% CI , 1.3-6.4), having previously discussed ACP with a physician (odds ratio, 4.8; 95% CI , 2.0-11.7), and discussing risk of stroke recurrence (odds ratio, 2.2; 95% CI , 1.1-4.5). Conclusions Stroke survivors had low AD completion rates and desired more conversations about stroke risk and ACP . Completed ADs were inconsistently documented in the electronic medical record. These findings provide guidance to improve ACP in our stroke clinic and may provide a model for others interested in enhancing ACP and ultimately goal-concordant care.

Objective: To explore health care providers' perceptions of the provision of palliative care in the Qikiqtaaluk (formerly known as Baffin) region of Nunavut., Design: An exploratory, qualitative, cross-sectional design using in-depth, semistructured interviews., Setting: Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut., Participants: Seven physicians and 6 registered nurses who worked in Iqaluit or other northern Inuit communities in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut., Methods: Thirteen health care providers participated in in-person or telephone semistructured interviews, which were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim., Main Findings: Interviews with the participating health care providers in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut revealed 5 complex and interwoven themes that influence the provision of comprehensive, culturally competent palliative care services to Indigenous patients: respecting Inuit culture, end-of-life care planning, and the role of family; recognizing the importance of the northern community (sense of home); being aware of the limited health care resources; recognizing the critical role of medical interpreters; and improving the quality of palliative care programs and resources, as well as health care provider training in palliative care and Inuit end-of-life care., Conclusion: Health care providers in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut have identified several important themes that influence the provision of culturally sensitive and comprehensive palliative care, most notably the need to develop palliative care resources and programs. It is hoped that the results of this study can be used to help guide palliative care strategies including program development and educational initiatives for health care providers. These initiatives can help build community capacity within a currently underserviced population and improve end-of-life care services available to Nunavut patients and their families. Further studies are required to determine the perspectives of medical interpreters, as well as palliative care patients and their families., (Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.)

Objectives: It is important that the outcomes of advance care planning (ACP) conversations are documented and available at the point of care. Advance care directives (ACDs) are a subset of ACP documentation and refer to structured documents that are completed and signed by competent adults. Other ACP documentation includes informal documentation by the person or on behalf of the person by someone else (eg, clinician, family). The primary objectives were to describe the prevalence and correlates of ACDs among Australians aged 65 and over accessing health and residential aged care services. The secondary aim was to describe the prevalence of other ACP documentation., Design and Setting: A prospective multicentre health record audit in general practices (n=13), hospitals (n=12) and residential aged care facilities (RACFs; n=26)., Participants: 503 people attending general practice, 574 people admitted to hospitals and 1208 people in RACFs., Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: Prevalence of one or more ACDs; prevalence of other ACP documentation., Results: 29.8% of people had at least one ACD on file. The majority were non-statutory documents (20.9%). ACD prevalence was significantly higher in RACFs (47.7%) than hospitals (15.7%) and general practices (3.2%) (p<0.001), and varied across jurisdictions. Multivariate logistic regression showed that the odds of having an ACD were positively associated with greater functional impairment and being in an RACF or hospital compared with general practice. 21.6% of people had other ACP documentation., Conclusions: In this study, 30% of people had ACDs accessible and a further 20% had other ACP documentation, suggesting that approximately half of participants had some form of ACP. Correlates of ACD completion were greater impairment and being in an RACF or hospital. Greater efforts to promote and standardise ACDs across jurisdictions may help to assist older people to navigate and complete ACDs and to receive care consistent with their preferences., Trial Registration Number: ACTRN12617000743369., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Medically complex urban patients experiencing homelessness comprise a disproportionate number of high-cost, high-need patients. There are few studies of interventions to improve care for these populations; their social complexity makes them difficult to study and requires clinical and research collaboration. We present a protocol for a trial of the streamlined unified meaningfully managed interdisciplinary team (SUMMIT) team, an ambulatory ICU (A-ICU) intervention to improve utilization and patient experience that uses control populations to address limitations of prior research., Methods/design: Participants are patients at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Portland, Oregon that serves patients experiencing homelessness or who have substance use disorders. Participants meet at least one of the following criteria: > 1 hospitalization over past 6 months; at least one medical co-morbidity including uncontrolled diabetes, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver disease, soft-tissue infection; and 1 mental health diagnosis or substance use disorder. We exclude patients if they have < 6 months to live, have cognitive impairment preventing consent, or are non-English speaking. Following consent and baseline assessment, we randomize participants to immediate SUMMIT intervention or wait-list control group. Participants receiving the SUMMIT intervention transfer care to a clinic-based team of physician, complex care nurse, care coordinator, social worker, and pharmacist with reduced panel size and flexible scheduling with emphasis on motivational interviewing, patient goal setting and advanced care planning. Wait-listed participants continue usual care plus engagement with community health worker intervention for 6 months prior to joining SUMMIT. The primary outcome is hospital utilization at 6 months; secondary outcomes include emergency department utilization, patient activation, and patient experience measures. We follow participants for 12 months after intervention initiation., Discussion: The SUMMIT A-ICU is an intensive primary care intervention for high-utilizers impacted by homelessness. Use of a wait-list control design balances community and staff stakeholder needs, who felt all participants should have access to the intervention, while addressing research needs to include control populations. Design limitations include prolonged follow-up period that increases risk for attrition, and conflict between practice and research; including partner stakeholders and embedded researchers familiar with the population in study planning can mitigate these barriers. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03224858, Registered 7/21/17 retrospectively registered https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03224858.

Objective: To identify and analyze available literature on care transition strategies in Latin American countries., Methods: Integrative literature review that included studies indexed in PubMed, LILACS, Web of Science Core Collection, CINAHL, SCOPUS databases, and the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), published in Portuguese, Spanish or English, between 2010 and 2017., Results: Eleven articles were selected and the strategies were grouped into components of care transition: discharge planning, advanced care planning, patient education and promotion of self-management, medication safety, complete communication of information, and outpatient follow-up. These strategies were carried out by multidisciplinary team members, in which nurses play a leading role in promoting safe care transitions., Conclusions: Care transition activities are generally initiated very close to patient discharge, this differs from recommendations of care transition programs and models, which suggest implementing care transition strategies from the time of admission until discharge.

Background: Although it is often recommended that general practitioners (GPs) initiate advance care planning (ACP), little is known about their experiences with ACP. This study aimed to identify GP experiences when conducting ACP conversations with palliative patients, and what factors influence these experiences., Methods: Dutch GPs (N = 17) who had participated in a training on timely ACP were interviewed. Data from these interviews were analysed using direct content analysis., Results: Four themes were identified: ACP and society, the GP's perceived role in ACP, initiating ACP and tailor-made ACP. ACP was regarded as a 'hot topic'. At the same time, a tendency towards a society in which death is not a natural part of life was recognized, making it difficult to start ACP discussions. Interviewees perceived having ACP discussions as a typical GP task. They found initiating and timing ACP easier with proactive patients, e.g. who are anxious of losing capacity, and much more challenging when it concerned patients with COPD or heart failure. Patients still being treated in hospital posed another difficulty, because they often times are not open to discussion. Furthermore, interviewees emphasized that taking into account changing wishes and the fact that not everything can be anticipated, is of the utmost importance. Moreover, when patients are not open to ACP, at a certain point it should be granted that choosing not to know, for example about where things are going or what possible ways of care planning might be, is also a form of autonomy., Conclusions: ACP currently is a hot topic, which has favourable as well as unfavourable effects. As GPs experience difficulties in initiating ACP if patients are being treated in the hospital, future research could focus on a multidisciplinary ACP approach and the role of medical specialists in ACP. Furthermore, when starting ACP with palliative patients, we recommend starting with current issues. In doing so, a start can be made with future issues kept in view. Although the tension between ACP's focus on the patient's direction and the right not to know can be difficult, ACP has to be tailored to each individual patient.

Objectives: Advance care planning (ACP) with older people needs to be approached differently than ACP with patients with a terminal illness. ACP is still used with only a minority of older patients due to a lack of knowledge regarding appropriate approaches to ACP with older people. General practitioners (GPs) may play a key role in ACP with older people. Therefore, we explored their experiences with and views on approaches to ACP with older patients in daily practice., Design, Setting and Participants: A qualitative study among a purposive sample of 19 Dutch GPs based on semistructured interviews., Results: Approaches to ACP with older patients can be divided into two categories: systematic and ad hoc. Systematic approaches consisted of discussing a fixed combination of topics with community-dwelling older patients who are frail, cognitively impaired or are aged >75 years, and with older patients living in residential care homes during group information meetings, intakes, comprehensive geriatric assessments and periodic assessments. Meetings were aimed at making agreements in anticipation of future care, at providing information and encouraging older people to take further steps in ACP. With ad hoc approaches, respondents discussed only one or two topics related to the near future. Ad hoc ACP was mainly done with deteriorating patients or when patients or family initiated ACP. Systematic and ad hoc approaches were used simultaneously or sequentially and were both used for initiating and following up on ACP. Due to a lack of time and knowledge of other occasions and topics than the ones respondents used, respondents seemed to underuse many occasions and topics., Conclusions: Awareness of appropriate systematic and ad hoc approaches for ACP, and the focus on providing information and encouraging older people to take further steps in ACP reported in this study can support GPs and improve older patients' access to ACP., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2018. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

The populations of Asian countries are expected to age rapidly in the near future, with a dramatic increase in the number of heart failure (HF) patients also anticipated. The need for palliative and end-of-life care for elderly patients with advanced HF is currently recognized in aging societies. However, palliative care and active treatment for HF are not mutually exclusive, and palliative care should be provided to reduce suffering occurring at any stage of symptomatic HF after the point of diagnosis. HF patients are at high risk of sudden cardiac death from the early stages of the disease onwards. The decision of whether to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the event of an emergency is challenging, especially in elderly HF patients, because of the difficulty in accurately predicting the prognosis of the condition. Furthermore, advanced HF patients are often fitted with a device, and device deactivation at the end of life is a complicated process. Treatment strategies should thus be discussed by multi-disciplinary teams, including palliative experts, and should consider patient directives to address the problems discussed above. Open communication with the HF patient regarding the expected prognosis, course, and treatment options will serve to support the patient and aid in future planning.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) guidelines recommend early access to palliative care together with optimal, disease-directed therapy for people with advanced disease, however, this occurs infrequently. This study explored the approaches of respiratory and palliative medicine specialists to palliative care and advance care planning (ACP) in advanced COPD., Methods: An online survey was emailed to all specialists and trainees in respiratory medicine in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), and to all palliative medicine specialists and trainees in ANZ and the United Kingdom., Results: Five hundred seventy-seven (33.1%) responses were received, with 440 (25.2%) complete questionnaires included from 177 respiratory and 263 palliative medicine doctors. Most respiratory doctors (140, 80.9%) were very or quite comfortable providing a palliative approach themselves to people with COPD. 113 (63.8%) respiratory doctors recommended referring people with advanced COPD to specialist palliative care, mainly for access to: psychosocial and spiritual care (105, 59.3%), carer support (104, 58.5%), and end-of-life care (94, 53.1%). 432 (98.2%) participants recommended initiating ACP discussions. Palliative medicine doctors were more likely to recommend discussing: what palliative care is (p < 0.0001), what death and dying might be like (p < 0.0001) and prognosis (p = 0.004). Themes highlighted in open responses included: inadequate, fragmented models of care, with limited collaboration or support from palliative care services., Conclusions: While both specialties recognised the significant palliative care and ACP needs of people with advanced COPD, in reality few patients access these elements of care. Formal collaboration and bi-directional support between respiratory and palliative medicine, are required to address these unmet needs.

Objective: To measure the extent to which accountable care organizations (ACOs) have adopted end-of-life (EOL) care planning processes and characterize those ACOs that have established processes related to EOL., Data Sources: This study uses data from three waves (2012-2015) of the National Survey of ACOs. Respondents were 397 ACOs participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial ACO contracts., Study Design: This is a cross-sectional survey study using multivariate ordered logit regression models. We measured the extent to which the ACO had adopted EOL care planning processes as well as organizational characteristics, including care management, utilization management, health informatics, and shared decision-making capabilities, palliative care, and patient-centered medical home experience., Principal Findings: Twenty-one percent of ACOs had few or no EOL care planning processes, 60 percent had some processes, and 19.6 percent had advanced processes. ACOs with a hospital in their system (OR: 3.07; p = .01), and ACOs with advanced care management (OR: 1.43; p = .02), utilization management (OR: 1.58, p = .00), and shared decision-making capabilities (OR: 16.3, p = .000) were more likely to have EOL care planning processes than those with no hospital or few to no capabilities., Conclusions: There remains considerable room for today's ACOs to increase uptake of EOL care planning, possibly by leveraging existing care management, utilization management, and shared decision-making processes., (© Health Research and Educational Trust.)

Background: ACP involving a facilitated conversation with a health or care professional is more effective than document completion alone. In policy, there is an expectation that health and care professionals will provide ACP support, commonly within their existing roles. However, the potential contributions of different professionals are outlined only broadly in policy and guidance. Research on opportunities and barriers for involving different professionals in providing ACP support, and feasible models for doing so, is currently lacking., Methods: We identified twelve healthcare organizations aiming to offer system-wide ACP support in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In each, we conducted an average 13 in-depth interviews with senior managers, ACP leads, dedicated ACP facilitators, physicians, nurses, social workers and other clinical and non-clinical staff. Interviews were analyzed thematically using NVivo software., Results: Organizations emphasized leadership for ACP support, including strategic support from senior managers and intensive day-to-day support from ACP leads, to support staff to deliver ACP support within their existing roles. Over-reliance on dedicated facilitators was not considered sustainable or scalable. We found many professionals, from all backgrounds, providing ACP support. However, there remained barriers, particularly for facilitating ACP conversations. A significant barrier for all professionals was lack of time. Physicians sometimes had poor communication skills, misunderstood medico-legal aspects and tended to have conversations of limited scope late in the disease trajectory. However, they could also have concerns about the appropriateness of ACP conversations conducted by others. Social workers had good facilitation skills and understood legal aspects but needed more clinical support than nurses. While ACP support provided alongside and as part of other care was common, ACP conversations in this context could easily get squeezed out or become fragmented. Referrals to other professionals could be insecure. Team-based models involving a physician and a nurse or social worker were considered cost-effective and supportive of good quality care but could require some additional resource., Conclusions: Effective staffing of ACP support is likely to require intensive local leadership, attention to physician concerns while avoiding an entirely physician-led approach, some additional resource and team-based frameworks, including in evolving models of care for chronic illness and end of life.

Objective: To assess primary care patients' engagement in advance care planning (ACP) and predictors of engagement., Design: Cross-sectional survey using a revised version of a validated questionnaire., Setting: Alberta, Ontario, and British Columbia., Participants: Convenience sample of 20 family practices that provided a consecutive sample of 810 patients aged 50 years and older., Main Outcome Measures: Engagement in ACP activities, and sociodemographic and health-related predictors of having engaged in ACP activities., Results: Patients had a mean age of 66 years (55.6% women). Two-thirds of patients (68.5%; 555) had thought about the kinds of medical treatments they would want or not want if they were sick and in hospital, 52.8% (n = 428) had talked with someone about what they would want, 32.0% (n = 259) had written down their wishes, 50.4% (n = 408) had named someone to be their substitute decision maker, and 23.0% (n = 186) had engaged in all 4 key ACP activities. Of those patients who had talked to someone about medical treatments wanted or not, 17.5% (n = 75) had talked to their family doctors. Age (adjusted odds ratio per 10-year category of 1.55; 95% CI 1.26 to 1.90; P < .001) was significantly associated with having engaged in all ACP activities., Conclusion: Many patients have engaged in some ACP activities, but few have discussed ACP with their family physicians. Strategies should be implemented in primary care to reduce the barriers to discussing ACP., (Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.)

Background: Advance care planning (ACP) has been identified as particularly relevant for nursing home residents, but it remains unclear how or under what circumstances ACP works and can best be implemented in such settings. We aimed to develop a theory that outlines the hypothetical causal pathway of ACP in nursing homes, i.e. what changes are expected, by means of which processes and under what circumstances., Methods: The Theory of Change approach is a participatory method of programme design and evaluation whose underlying intention is to improve understanding of how and why a programme works. It results in a Theory of Change map that visually represents how, why and under what circumstances ACP is expected to work in nursing home settings in Belgium. Using this approach, we integrated the results of two workshops with stakeholders (n = 27) with the results of a contextual analysis and a systematic literature review., Results: We identified two long-term outcomes that ACP can achieve: to improve the correspondence between residents’ wishes and the care/treatment they receive and to make sure residents and their family feel involved in planning their future care and are confident their care will be according to their wishes. Besides willingness on the part of nursing home management to implement ACP and act accordingly, other necessary preconditions are identified and put in chronological order. These preconditions serve as precursors to, or requirements for, accomplishing successful ACP. Nine original key intervention components with specific rationales are identified at several levels (resident/family, staff or nursing home) to target the preconditions: selection of a trainer, ensuring engagement by management, training ACP reference persons, in-service education for healthcare staff, information for staff, general practitioners, residents and their family, ACP conversations and documentation, regular reflection sessions, multidisciplinary meetings, and formal monitoring., Onclusions: The Theory of Change map presented here illustrates a theory of how ACP is expected to work in order to achieve its desired long-term outcomes while highlighting organisational factors that potentially facilitate the implementation and sustainability of ACP. We provide the first comprehensive rationale of how ACP is expected to work in nursing homes, something that has been called for repeatedly.

We present five Key Concepts that describe priorities for improving end-of-life care for frail older adults in Canada, and recommendations based on each Key Concept. Key Concept #1: Our end-of-life care system is focused on cancer, not frailty. Key Concept #2: We need better strategies to systematically identify frail older adults who would benefit from a palliative approach. Key Concept #3: The majority of palliative and end-of-life care will be, and should be, provided by clinicians who are not palliative care specialists. Key Concept #4: Organizational change and innovative funding models could deliver far better end-of-life care to frail individuals for less than we are currently spending. Key Concept #5: Improving the quality and quantity of advance care planning for frail older adults could reduce unwanted intensive care and costs at the end of life, and improve the experience for individuals and family members alike., Competing Interests: None

Background: Frail and older people are estimated to account for 40% of deaths. Despite conversations about end-of-life care being an important component of the national End of Life Care Strategy, there is a marked disparity between the majority who would like to discuss advance care plans, and the minority who currently have this opportunity., Aim: To investigate the attitudes of GPs to advance care planning (ACP) discussions with frail and older individuals., Design and Setting: Focus group study with GPs in Cambridgeshire between September 2015 and January 2016., Method: Five focus groups with 21 GPs were purposively sampled to maximise diversity. Framework analysis was used to analyse transcripts and develop themes., Results: Although some GPs were concerned it might cause distress, the majority felt that raising ACP was important, especially as preparation for future emergencies. Knowing the individuals, introducing the idea as part of ongoing discussions, and public awareness campaigns were all facilitators identified. Several considered that service limitations made it difficult to fulfil patients' wishes and risked raising unrealistic patient expectations. Other barriers identified included uncertainty over prognosis and difficulties ensuring that individuals' wishes were respected., Conclusion: Most GPs viewed ACP as important. However, their enthusiasm was tempered by experience. This study highlights the difficulties for GPs of encouraging dialogue and respecting individuals' wishes within the constraints of the existing health and social care system. National publicity campaigns and encouraging patients to prioritise healthcare outcomes could help GPs raise care preferences without causing a detrimental impact on patients or raising unrealistic expectations. Once patients agree their care preferences, they need to be documented, accessible, and reviewed by all relevant health and social care providers to ensure that their wishes are respected, and plans amended as their circumstances change., (© British Journal of General Practice 2018.)

Helpful resources, many of them online, are available to facilitate the process. And this time-intensive service is now billable under 2 CPT codes.

Health organizations in canada have invested considerable resources in strategies to improve knowledge and uptake of advance care planning (acp). Yet barriers persist and many canadians do not engage in the full range of acp behaviours, including writing an advance directive and appointing a legally authorized decision-maker. not engaging effectively in acp disadvantages patients, their loved ones and their healthcare providers. This article advocates for greater collaboration between health and legal professionals to better support clients in acp and presents a framework for action to build connections between these typically siloed professions., (Copyright © 2016 Longwoods Publishing.)