The utility of standardized advance directives: the general practitioners' perspective

Advance directives (AD) are written documents that give patients the opportunity to communicate their preferences regarding treatments they do or do not want to receive in case they become unable to make decisions. Commonly used pre-printed forms have different formats. Some offer space for patients to (a) appoint a surrogate decision maker, and/or (b) to determine future medical treatments and/or (c) give a statement of personal values. So far it is unknown which forms GPs preferably use and why they decide to do so. 23 semi-structured interviews with GPs were analysed using content analysis. Interviewees mainly use short templates (to appoint surrogate decision makers) and medium length templates with checkboxes to indicate patients' preferences in regards to life prolonging measures. Especially when patients faced the progression of a disease, participants use the latter version. Only then, the interviewees remarked, patients are capable to rate concrete situations reliably. GPs also realize the importance of the verbal assessment of patients' preferences; however they rarely keep a written form of the conversation. Some GPs hand out one or more templates and ask their patients to read and think about them at home with the option to talk to them about it later on, while others prefer their patients to fill them out alone at home. Regardless of template usage, most GPs emphasize that ADs require regular updates. GPs tend to see standardized advance directives mainly as a tool to start a conversation with their patients and to identify their real preferences and values. When the patient is still not facing the progression of an already existing disease it could be sufficient to only appoint a surrogate decision maker instead of creating a full AD. However, in all other situations, appointing a surrogate decision maker should be backed up by a written statement of a patient's general values. Patients and their relatives should always have the opportunity to ask their GP for medical advice when drafting an AD. It is crucial to regularly verify and update existing ADs within the course of a disease

Additional file 1 of Transition of patients with recently diagnosed Dementia from inpatient to outpatient setting– a scoping review

Supplementary Material

How and why educational interventions work to increase knowledge of delirium among healthcare professionals in nursing homes: a protocol for a realist review

Background Delirium is a neuropathological condition that impairs cognitive performance, attention and consciousness and can be potentially life-threatening. Nursing home residents are particularly vulnerable to developing delirium, but research thus far tends to focus on the acute hospital setting. Healthcare professionals (HCPs) working in nursing homes seem to be little aware of delirium. To improve healthcare for affected or at-risk individuals, increasing knowledge among HCPs is highly relevant. Using the realist review method helps to understand how and why an educational intervention for HCPs on delirium in nursing homes works.Methods and analysis In accordance with the Realist And Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards publication standards for realist syntheses, the review process will include the following five steps: (1) search strategy and literature review; (2) study selection and assessment; (3) data extraction; (4) data synthesis and (5) development of an initial programme theory. The literature search will be conducted in the databases Medline (PubMed), CINAHL (Ebsco), Scopus, Web of Science, GeroLit and Carelit. Additional focuses are on snowballing techniques, hand research and grey literature. Studies of any design will be included to develop the initial programme theory. The literature will be selected by two researchers independently. In addition, the experiences of HCPs from nursing homes will be reflected in group discussions. To this end, Context–Mechanism–Outcome configurations (CMOcs) will be established to develop an initial programme theory.Ethics and dissemination The results will be disseminated within the scientific community. For this purpose, presentations at scientific conferences as well as publications in peer-reviewed journals are scheduled. In the next step, the CMOcs could serve for the development of a complex educational intervention to increase the knowledge of HCPs on delirium in nursing homes.Registration details This protocol has been registered at Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/HTFU4)

Association between GP characteristics and overall confidence across different EOLC competencies.

<p>Association between GP characteristics and overall confidence across different EOLC competencies.</p

Association between GP characteristics and overall confidence across different EOLC competencies.

<p>Association between GP characteristics and overall confidence across different EOLC competencies.</p

Demographic and professional characteristics of GPs (N = 579).

<p>Demographic and professional characteristics of GPs (N = 579).</p

Plot of association between assigned importance and confidence levels of different EOLC competencies averaged across GPs.

<p>The x-axis describes the level of importance and the y-axis the level of confidence of GPs. For each of the 18 EOLC competencies the mean importance and confidence values across GPs are displayed.</p

Comparison of respondents (N = 579) and total sample (N = 2000) by gender, age and language region.

<p>Comparison of respondents (N = 579) and total sample (N = 2000) by gender, age and language region.</p