Preparation for Future Care Needs in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: What Promotes Feeling of Preparedness?

The study measured associations at one time point, so it cannot show that completed end-of-life planning or positive dementia attitudes caused greater preparedness. The sample was recruited from a research registry and was largely White, highly educated, and more than half rated their health as very good or excellent, so the findings may not apply to more diverse or less healthy groups. Thirteen participants were excluded for missing data, failed attention checks, extreme scores, or reading problems, and the final analysis used 122 participants. The dementia anxiety measure was created for this study and lacked extensive validation. Some expected predictors were not supported, and older age was no longer significant once control-related variables were added, so the findings were not consistent across models.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and publication of the article.

Do not read this as evidence that giving patients an end-of-life planning checklist will increase their preparedness. The study only measured associations at one time point, and it did not test a planning intervention.