Advance directives and community-dwelling older adults

Carole F. Hamel, Lorna W. Guse, Pamela G. Hawranik, John B. Bond

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Articlepeer-review

    27 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Advance directives (ADs) are documents that allow competent individuals to set forth their medical treatment wishes and/or to name a proxy in the event that they lose the capacity to communicate these decisions in the future. Despite the benefits of and support for such documents, very few people have completed an AD. This posttest-only experimental study examined whether an individualized intervention given to half of the older adults who attended an educational session increased the discussion and/or completion ofADs. Of the 74 participants, 25.7% (n = 19) completed an AD. There were no significant differences between control and intervention groups on the discussion and/or completion of ADs. Multivariate analysis indicated that perceived barriers were significantly associated with the discussion and completion of ADs. Content analysis revealed that major barriers to discussion and completion include procrastination and a reluctance to think about deteriorating health status and/or death.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)143-158
    Number of pages16
    JournalWestern Journal of Nursing Research
    Volume24
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar. 2002

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