Advance care planning (ACP) is an ongoing discussion that involves shared decision-making to clarify and document an individual’s wishes, preferences and goals regarding their medical care. This is extremely important to making certain that they get the medical care they want, if they become incapacitated and unable to make their own decisions. Advance care planning is a major benefit to seniors. Despite the importance of ACP, most Americans don’t have their medical wishes documented, according to Medical Life Sciences News’ recent article entitled “Comprehensive approach may promote Advance Care Planning for elderly adults.”
In the pandemic, too many families exhausted themselves attempting to address this issue, agonizing over what their loved one might have chosen for their care if they had been given the chance.
Dr. Angelo Volandes, MD, MPH, physician and researcher, Division of General Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues started the Advance Care Planning: Communicating with Outpatients for Vital Informed Decisions (ACP-COVID) pragmatic trial. This experiment was designed to see if ACP participation during the pandemic would increase following implementation of video decision aids and clinician communication skills training. They also looked at how these interventions would affect ACP documentation among patients from ethnic and racial minority groups, specifically African Americans and Hispanics.
The trial included a large, diverse patient population aged 65+ from 22 outpatient clinics at Northwell Health, the largest healthcare system in New York State. ACP documentation from three six-month time periods was compared:
- Pre-COVID-19
- The first wave of COVID-19; and
- An intervention period.
The findings showed that ACP documentation was significantly greater among all groups during the intervention period, with African American and Hispanic patients showing the most significant increases.
“The stark disparity in COVID-related outcomes for African American and Hispanic patients highlights a reality already known by many: our healthcare system routinely fails to meet the needs of minority patients. No one intervention or initiative is going to correct all those failings though advance care planning, through engaging and empowering patients, is one of the most effective, immediate ways to address disparities in care,” adds Volandes, who is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“Fundamentally, advance care planning aims to empower patients. The results of our study demonstrate the importance of meeting patients where they are,” adds Volandes. “Whether that means providing information in their native language or sharing educational material via text rather than a patient portal, if advance care planning is to be about the patient and we need to find ways to ensure that they feel they have the knowledge and ability to make decisions alongside their clinicians when they deem the time is right. COVID-19 has made ACP more important than ever, and especially in communities that have been hardest hit by the pandemic.” The bottom line is that advance care planning can be a huge benefit to seniors and their caregivers. Work closely with an elder law attorney to begin the planning process. If you would like to learn more about long-term care and nursing home planning, please visit our previous posts.
Reference: Medical Life Sciences News (Feb. 28, 2022) “Comprehensive approach may promote Advance Care Planning for elderly adults”
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