Clinician knowledge and attitudes of mental health advance statements in Victoria, Australia.
Russell James, Phil Maude, Adam Searby
PMID 35592928WHAT IT FOUND
Most clinicians support advance statements, but 40% have never used one.
Training was often brief and under half met expectations. Confidence to execute them was lower than perceived knowledge, highlighting a gap between knowing about the tool and using it in practice.
Key findings
0140% of participants had no previous experience with advance statements.
0249% of those trained received less than two hours of training, and 53% reported training did not exceed expectations.
0373% felt they had adequate knowledge to initiate discussions, but only 63% felt confident to execute an advance statement.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample size of 190 is not representative of the entire Victorian mental health workforce. Convenience and snowball sampling may have introduced response bias, potentially attracting those with more favourable views on advance statements. The survey tool was newly developed and validated by a small panel, though it showed acceptable internal consistency. Cross-sectional design prevents determining if attitudes or practices changed over time.
Declared interests
Ethical approval was granted by a university ethics committee. No specific funding sources or author conflicts of interest are declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high support for advance statements as evidence that they are being effectively used in clinical practice. The data shows a significant gap between positive attitudes and actual experience, with 40% of clinicians having never used them and training often being insufficient.