Facilitators and Barriers of Advance Care Planning Discussions with Adolescents, Young Adults, and Parents of Children with Serious Illness (RP403)

A scoping review of guidelines and frameworks for advance care planning for adolescents and young adults with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions

“…43 Additional evidence is needed to better understand the influence of advance care planning guidelines and frameworks on quality of end-of-life care from the perspective of the adolescent and young adult themselves. Existing international literature shows that healthcare professionals often experience barriers to having advance care planning discussions with adolescents and young adults 42,[44][45][46] including a perceived lack of accessible training opportunities, 42 a need to upskill communication skills, prognostic uncertainty, competing demands, 46 trying to balance the young person's autonomy with their capacity to make informed medical decisions, 45 and challenges relating to their own emotions. 44 Additional information regarding healthcare professionals' confidence in implementing these guidelines and frameworks in practice is therefore needed to identify the educational and training needs of healthcare professionals across specialties and strategies to address these identified barriers to advance care planning discussions with adolescents and young adults.…”