A Survey of Attitudes toward Advance Care Planning among Staff at a Medical Home for Children with Disabilities

Abstract

To clarify sta awareness and the current status of facilities regarding end-of-life care and the planning for severely disabled children and adults. Methods: A questionnaire survey on ACP was conducted on all 466 sta members of a residential facility for children with medical disabilities. Results: e response rate was 77.0%; 20.2% of direct support sta and 50.9% of indirect support sta answered that they had never heard of ACP (or life conferences). e respondents had experienced discussions with the patient and family members about medical treatment and care in the last stage of life was 27.1%. e content of the discussions was more often about the family's values and wishes than about the patient's values and intentions, and the timing of the start of the discussions was often when death was approaching .More than 70% of the direct supporters wished to participate in ACP, discussions, and they wished to receive training in advance of ACP implementation . e majority of sta agreed that surrogate decision-making in the absence of family members should be discussed by a multidisciplinary medical and care team, and that the results should be approved by an ethics committee. Conclusion:Training for sta is necessary for the promotion of ACP in medical-type residential care facilities for children with disabilities.