The Development and Validation of a Structured Survey Tool Examining Health Care Professionals’ Perspectives of Advance Care Planning (ACP) for People with Dementia in Long-term Care Settings

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background: Evidence suggests that ACP has the potentialto improve care for people with dementia in long-termcare settings. However to date, despite recommendationfrom international policy, implementation has been varied.Health care professionals are central to implementingACP, yet empirical studies indicate they have concerns.There is a lack of validated measures examining the perspectivesof health care professionals.Aim: To develop a survey tool to examine to HCP’s perspectivesof ACP for people with dementia in long-termcare settings.To establish initial reliability & validity of the instrument.Methodology: The tool was developed through adapting apreviously validated tool used to measure oncology nursesperception of ACP, underpinned by the Theory of PlannedBehaviour. The adaptation process was informed by incorporatingthe results from an in-depth analysis of literature& consultation with key experts in ACP & dementia.Research variables were grouped into 3 domains: Attitudes,Understanding and knowledge & Current Practice.Open ended questions were included to capture barriers &facilitators to ACP. This tool was administered to a totalpopulation of nursing home managers within a region inthe UK (n=178).Results: A response rate of 66% was achieved (n=116).Principal Component Analysis was carried out in order tomeasure construct validity. This revealed the presence of 6principal components, with each variable loading relativelystrongly onto 1 component. The Cronbach’s Alphafor the tool was 0.86 indicating good reliability.Conclusions: The results indicate preliminary constructvalidity of attitudinal and practice sections of the tool. Thereis potential to enhance understanding by exploring the relationshipbetween the different factors that lead to intentionto engage in ACP. This will contribute to the future developmentof appropriate educational support, resulting inimproved care for people with dementia in this setting.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)NP279-NP280
JournalPalliative Medicine
Volume30
Issue number6
Early online date11 May 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 1 Jun 2016

Keywords

  • advance care planning
  • health care professional
  • long term care settings

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