Prospective multicentre cross-sectional audit among older Australians accessing health and residential aged care services: protocol for a national advance care directive prevalence study

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B

Sellars

Buck

et al. 2020

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Objectives This study explored associations between birth region, socio-demographic predictors and advance care planning (ACP) uptake. Methods A prospective, multi-center, cross-sectional audit study of 100 sites across eight Australian jurisdictions. ACP documentation was audited in the health records of people aged 65 years or older accessing general practice (GP), hospital and long-term care facility (LTCF) settings. Advance care directives (ACD) completed by the person (‘person completed ACDs’) and ACP documents completed by a health professional or other person (‘health professional or someone else ACP’) were counted. Hierarchical multi-level logistic regression assessed associations with birth region. Results From 4187 audited records, 30.0% (1152/3839) were born outside Australia. ‘Person completed ACDs’ were less common among those born outside Australia (21.9% vs 28.9%, X2 (1, N = 3840) = 20.3, p & 0.001), while ‘health professional or someone else ACP’ was more common among those born outside Australia (46.4% vs 34.8%, X2 (1, N = 3840) = 45.5, p & 0.001). Strongest associations were found for those born in Southern Europe: ‘person completed ACD’ (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.36-0.88), and ‘health professional or someone else ACP’ (OR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.01-1.98). English-language proficiency and increased age significantly predicted both ACP outcomes. Discussion Region of birth is associated with the rate and type of ACP uptake for some older Australians. Approaches to ACP should facilitate access to interpreters and be sensitive to diverse preferences for individual and family involvement in ACP.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association Between Region of Birth and Advance Care Planning Documentation Among Older Australian Migrant Communities: A Multicenter Audit Study

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B

Sellars

Buck

et al. 2020

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“…Auditor-assessed functional status, or ECOG status for those with this recorded, were combined to represent estimated functional status. 28…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As part of an Australia-wide study to describe the prevalence of ACD and ACP documentation across health and aged care settings, [26][27][28] a prospective multicentre audit was undertaken. This paper reports a secondary analysis of data presenting the findings of individuals with a diagnosis of dementia.…”

Section: Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inadequate completion of advance care directives by individuals with dementia: national audit of health and aged care facilities

Bryant

Sellars

BMJ Support Palliat Care

et al. 2021

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Objectives(i) Describe the prevalence and type of advance care directives (ACDs) and other advance care planning (ACP) documentation completed by persons with dementia, healthcare providers and others on behalf of a person with dementia; (ii) identify the personal and ACP programme characteristics associated with having ACP documentation in the health record; (iii) identify the personal and ACP programme characteristics associated with having a self-completed ACD.MethodsA multicentre audit was undertaken in Australian hospitals, general practices and residential aged care facilities. Auditors extracted demographic and ACP data from the records of eligible patients. ACP programme characteristics were provided by a site representative. Logistic and multinomial regression were used respectively to examine the factors associated with completion of any ACP documentation, and self-completion of an ACD by persons with dementia.ResultsA total of 1388 people with dementia (33.2%) from 96 sites were included. Overall, 60.8% (n=844) had ACP documentation; 31.6% (n=438) had a self-completed ACD and 29.3% (n=406) had an ACP document completed by a health professional or someone else on their behalf. Older participants were more likely to have ACP documented. Multivariate analyses indicated the odds of having self-completed ACP documents, compared with no advance care plan or ACP completed by someone else, were significantly influenced by age, country of birth, setting and whether the site had ACP training, policies or guidelines.DiscussionWhile 60% of people with dementia had some form of ACP documentation, only half of the cases in which ACP was documented included an ACD completed by the person themselves.

“…Ethics approval and consent to participate As per the Consent section of the Protocol manuscript, (44) this study was undertaken as a quality improvement activity within health services and did not seek informed consent from people whose records were audited. The request for an informed waiver of the requirement of consent is approved Austin Health Human Research Ethics Committee, Melbourne, Australia (ref: HREC/18/Austin/109).…”

Section: Fundingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organisational and advance care planning program characteristics associated with advance care directive completion: a prospective multicentre cross-sectional audit among health and residential aged care services caring for older Australians

Detering

Buck

et al. 2021

BMC Health Serv Res

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Background Advance care planning (ACP) and advance care directive (ACD) completion improve outcomes for patients, family, clinicians and the healthcare system. However, uptake remains low. Despite increasing literature regarding organisational-level ACP characteristics leading to success, there is a lack of data measuring the impact of these factors on ACD prevalence. Methods A prospective multi-centre, cross-sectional audit of health records among older Australians accessing general practices (GP), hospitals and residential aged care facilities (RACF) was undertaken to describe organisational and ACP-program characteristics across services, document ACD prevalence, and assess organisation-level predictors of ACD prevalence. Organisational-level data included general and ACP-program characteristics. Patient/resident data included demographics and presence of ACDs. Results One hundred organisations (GP = 15, hospitals = 27, RACFs = 58) participated, contributing data from 4187 patient/resident health records. Median prevalence of ACDs across organisations was 19.4%, (range = 0–100%). In adjusted models, organisational sector type was the strongest predictor of ACD prevalence, with higher rates in RACFs (unadjusted 28.7%, adjusted 20.6%) than hospitals (unadjusted 6.4%, adjusted 5.8%) or GPs (unadjusted 2.5%, adjusted 6.6%). RACFs in regional and rural/remote areas had higher prevalence than metropolitan organisations. Organisations supported by government funding and those that were Not For Profit had higher prevalence than those that were privately funded, and organisations with an ACP program that had been implemented at least 3 years before data collection had higher prevalence than those with either no program or a more recent program. Conclusions The median ACD prevalence was low, with substantial variation across organisations. Sector type was the strongest predictor, being highest in RACFs. Low prevalence rates, overall and in particular sectors, have implications for improvements. Further research into organisational factors associated with ACP/ACD completion is required.