General practitioners' views of advance care planning : a questionnaire-based study

© 2021. Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland..

BACKGROUND: Planning for end of life (EOL) care has become an important consideration for doctors and patients in the context of longer life expectancy in most high-income countries. Advance care plans (ACPs) allow individuals to make plans for future healthcare practices for when they no longer have the capacity to make such decisions. It has been suggested that general practitioners (GPs) have the ideal relationship with patients to facilitate this process. However, the uptake of ACPs still remains low, prompting the need to understand the views of GPs regarding ACPs.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes of GPs regarding ACPs and to identify barriers in implementing ACPs into practice.

DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with GPs in county Cork and Kerry.

METHODS: A questionnaire was adapted from two previously published studies, piloted and posted to GPs. Two hundred thirty-seven questionnaires were posted.

RESULTS: Seventy-five questionnaires were completed, representing a 31.7% response rate. Findings revealed that GPs have positive attitudes towards ACPS, although there is an inadequate understanding of ACPs. In particular, GPs are challenged by defining the right moment to initiate EOL discussions, their patients' unawareness of ACPs, and lack of time during consultations.

CONCLUSION: In order to improve their implementation, workshops and courses should be developed to increase GPs' knowledge and confidence. Additionally, the healthcare system should be adapted, supporting GPs to facilitate these important discussions to take place.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2022

Erschienen:

2022

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:191

Enthalten in:

Irish journal of medical science - 191(2022), 1 vom: 24. Feb., Seite 253-262

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Somal, Karendeep [VerfasserIn]
Foley, Tony [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Advance care
Advance care plans
Clinical decision making
End of life
End of life care
Family doctor
Family doctors
Family medicine
Frailty
General practice
General practitioner
General practitioners
Journal Article
Palliative care
Primary care
Terminal care

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 27.01.2022

Date Revised 27.01.2022

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1007/s11845-021-02554-x

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM321825497