RNQualitativeThe American journal of hospice & palliative care2025

Perspectives of Advance Care Planning for Latinos During COVID-19.

Jen Hirsch, Tamara Cadet, Kristen Wells and 3 others

PMID 41243521

WHAT IT FOUND

Participants said language barriers, death taboos, and telehealth made advance care planning hard for Latino families, but COVID raised urgency to plan.

Key findings

01Language barriers, limited awareness of advance care planning, and viewing death as taboo were described as major barriers to advance care planning for Latino individuals and families.

02Telehealth, limited internet access, and hospital visitor restrictions were described as making communication, family isolation, and mistrust about end-of-life wishes worse.

03Despite barriers, participants described the pandemic as raising urgency to talk about early advance care planning.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs

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What it does not show

Participants were recruited purposively and through snowball sampling from San Diego, so the themes may not transfer to other Latino populations or regions. Focus groups were held online during the early pandemic, and many participants were less familiar with the technology, which may have affected participation. The study reports perceptions, not measured outcomes or tested effects of advance care planning interventions.

The easy way to misread this

Do not read these themes as evidence that a specific advance care planning program works. They are perceptions from 49 participants in San Diego, and the study did not test any intervention.

Read it on PubMed →