Intervention to Promote Advance Care Planning for Older Adults in the Emergency Department

Advance Care Planning Clinical Trial

Official title:

Intervention to Promote Advance Care Planning for Older Adults in the Emergency Department

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03402763
• Other study ID #: 15-3371
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: January 10, 2018
• Last updated: January 10, 2018
• Start date: February 1, 2016
• Est. completion date: February 1, 2017

Study information

• Verified date: January 2018
• Source: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

There is an urgent need to increase advance care planning among older adults in order to ensure that patients receive care of the end of life that is consistent with their values and preferences. Emergency departments (EDs) provide an opportunity to reach a large proportion of older adults who have not yet completed advance care planning at a time when they are likely to recognize the need for such planning. The purpose of this pilot is to examine the potential of a video-supported intervention initiated during the emergency department visit to promote advance care planning.

Description:

The overarching goal of this project is to understand the impact of an ED-initiated intervention on the promotion of advance care planning (ACP) among older adults. Participants are given either a short informational handout on the process and choices involved in ACP or watch a 6-minute video about ACP. The video describes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), breathing tube placement, and mechanical breathing support in addition to the general process of ACP. Following the video, patients in the intervention will also have an email sent to their primary care provider. The email will inform the primary care provider that the patient has watched a video about ACP, include a brief synopsis of the video, and provide instructions as to how to document the patient's preferences in the hospital's electronic health record in a way that will be accessible to other providers. Outcomes will include documentation of end-of-life care preferences in the electronic health records and patient-reported conversation with their provider as well as conversations with loved ones.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 42
• Est. completion date: February 1, 2017
• Est. primary completion date: February 1, 2017
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 65 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Ability to provide informed consent

• Ability to communicate in English

• Age 65-79 years with a serious medical illness: (1) Established diagnosis of metastatic cancer, advanced heart failure, chronic obstructive lung disease, end stage liver disease, end stage renal disease, (2) Unable to walk or requires human assistance with walking, (3) Two hospitalizations within the last 6 months

• Age 80 years or older

Exclusion Criteria:

• Critically ill (emergency severity index = 1)

• Cognitively impaired based on Six Item Screener < 4 or lack the capacity to consent

• Currently enrolled in hospice or comfort care program

• No working phone number

• Non English speaker

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Advance Care Planning
• Emergencies
• Emergency Medicine

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Educational Video
The intervention is an educational video presented to patients in the ED with the intent to promote ACP among older adults.
• Primary Care Provider Email
For intervention patients, an email will be sent to primary care providers explaining that the patient has seen a video about advance care planning, providing a synopsis of the video, and giving instructions about how to document end-of-life care preferences in the electronic health record.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	CPR and Intubation Preferences	Patient-reported preferences about if they would want CPR if heart stopped or intubation if patient could not breathe.	3 months
Other	CPR Knowledge	True and false questions assessing patient knowledge about CPR.	3 months
Primary	Documentation of end-of-life preferences in the electronic health record	Since the ED visit, does the patient have any new preferences about CPR, intubation, or palliative care documented in their electronic health record?	3 months
Secondary	Conversation with Regular Provider	Patient-reported conversation with their regular provider (primary care physician, admitting physician, other outpatient provider) about what they would want done if they became very sick, had serious breathing trouble, heart stopped, or they could not make medical decisions from him or herself.	3 months
Secondary	Conversation with Loved One	Patient-reported conversation with a trusted loved one (spouse, children, or sibling) about what they would want done if they became very sick, had serious breathing trouble, heart stopped, or they could not make medical decisions from him or herself.	3 months