A Limited Opportunity: COVID-19 and Promotion of Advance Care Planning

Background: Little is known about how COVID-19 has influenced the role of family caregivers in advance care planning (ACP). Objectives: To explore the experiences of family caregivers and ACP in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Exploratory sequential mixed-methods design of ca...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kara B. Dassel, Gail L. Towsley, Rebecca L. Utz, Lee Ellington, Alexandra Terrill, Debra Scammon, Alycia A. Bristol, Amber Thompson, Melody Mickens
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Mary Ann Liebert 2021-06-01
Series:Palliative Medicine Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/PMR.2021.0013
Description
Summary:Background: Little is known about how COVID-19 has influenced the role of family caregivers in advance care planning (ACP). Objectives: To explore the experiences of family caregivers and ACP in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Exploratory sequential mixed-methods design of caregiver characteristics and pandemic response to ACP. Settings/Subjects: Family caregivers of care recipients with varied caregiving needs (dementia, mental illness, etc.). Measurements: Quantitative survey was done of fixed-choice questions of 82 caregivers. Semistructured qualitative telephone interviews were performed of a subsample of participants (n?=?28). Results: Some (19%) of family caregivers revisited or updated advance directives of care recipients and/or had some type of contingency plan (33%) if they were to become ill. We identified three barriers caregivers faced during the pandemic that may have limited their engagement with ACP. Conclusions: Family caregivers need education regarding ACP and specific resources that can guide and support them through the process of ACP, for both themselves and care recipients.
ISSN:2689-2820