Many Physicians Not Prepared for End-of-Life Talks With Patients
An article in Physician's Weekly, "Many Physicians Not Prepared for End-of-Life Talks With Patients," reported on the recent Journal of the American Geriatrics Society paper authored by Terry Fulmer, Marcus Escobedo, Amy Berman, Mary Jane Koren, Sandra Hernández, and Angela Hult, "Physicians' Views on Advance Care Planning and End‐of‐Life Care Conversations."
"While nearly all physicians say end-of-life conversations are important, many report lacking the training to have such conversations, according to a brief report published online May 23 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, from The John A. Hartford Foundation in New York City, and colleagues conducted a 37-item telephone survey to measure attitudes and perceptions of barriers and facilitators to advance care planning among 736 physicians (primary care specialists; pulmonology, cardiology, oncology subspecialists) regularly seeing patients aged ≥65 years."
"The researchers found that 99 percent of respondents agreed that it is important to have end-of-life conversations, yet only 29 percent reported that they have received formal training for such conversations."
To read the article, click here.
To go to the JAGS abstract, click here.
To go to The John A. Hartford Foundation physician survey, click here.
The article was also covered by Medical Xpress and DoctorsLounge.