General practitioners' evaluations of optimal timing to initiate advance care planning for patients with cancer, organ failure, or multimorbidity: A health records survey study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Appropriate timing to initiate advance care planning is difficult, especially for individuals with non-malignant disease in community settings.

Aim

To identify the optimal moment for, and reasons to initiate advance care planning in different illness trajectories.

Design and methods

A health records survey study; health records were presented to 83 GPs with request to indicate and substantiate what they considered optimal advance care planning timing within the 2 years before death. We used quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Setting and patients

We selected and anonymized 90 health records of patients who died with cancer, organ failure or multimorbidity, from a regional primary care registration database in the Netherlands.

Results

The me

SUBMITTER: Tros W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8972953 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature