Advance Care Planning and Attainment of Cancer Patients' End-of-Life Preferences: Relatives' Perspective.
Gil Bar-Sela, Aviad Tur-Sinai, Noa Givon-Schaham and 1 others
PMID 35587799WHAT IT FOUND
Relatives reported that discussing care preferences with family was linked to cancer patients receiving care that matched their preferences.
Written directives and family discussion were linked to dying in the preferred place. These are associations, not proof.
Key findings
01Relatives reported that a discussion of care preferences with family was linked to the patient receiving care in line with preferences.
02Having a written directive and discussing care preferences with family were both linked to dying in the preferred place.
03Relatives could not answer whether care matched preferences for 25% and whether death was in the preferred place for 21%.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Of 1000 relatives contacted, 491 participated, and information about those who refused could not be collected, so participants may differ from nonparticipants. Relatives were interviewed after the patient died, so memory problems, distress, and social-desirability bias may affect answers. Relatives could not answer whether care matched preferences for 25% and whether death was in the preferred place for 21%. Clinical details such as cancer type and speed of deterioration were not available. The sample was limited to cancer patients in Israel, so results may not apply elsewhere.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research and the Minerva Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the End of Life at Tel Aviv University.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these links as proof that advance care planning caused better end-of-life care. This was a retrospective survey of relatives' reports, not a trial, and 25% of relatives could not answer whether care matched preferences while 21% could not answer whether death was in the preferred place.