Use of a Computer Program for Advance Care Planning with African American Participants

Abstract

Preliminary evidence suggests that an interactive computer program can help African Americans engage in effective advance care planning, including creating an accurate advance directive document that will be shared with loved ones.

Advance care planning for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

“…Consistent with previous studies involving other patient populations, we found that after using the decision aid, patients’ knowledge of ACP increased, and patients expressed high levels of satisfaction with MYWK (37, 40, 42, 49, 50). So too, there were no adverse effects on anxiety, which should help allay concerns some clinicians have about discussing end-of-life issues with patients.…”

High satisfaction and low decisional conflict with advance care planning among chronically ill patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or heart failure using an online decision aid: A pilot study

“…However, in a randomized controlled trial among patients with advanced cancer, the online decision aid outperformed standard ACP. 13,19 Conclusion Use of the interactive, online decision aid MYWK is a feasible intervention to facilitate ACP among patients with advanced HF and COPD. Patients reported high satisfaction and low decisional conflict after using the tool.…”

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Strategies to Improve Family Members’ Preparedness for Surrogate Decision-Making

“…Why? It is, of course, possible that the intervention isn’t beneficial, but multiple studies suggest otherwise, including data on accuracy, 20,30 knowledge, 19,53 and concordance 20,40 —which leads us to ponder other explanations. Perhaps the measures were inappropriate.…”

“…To help with difficult decisions, the program asks users to rank and rate the importance of factors that influence choices, using a framework based on multiattribute utility theory. 26 –29 Studies with diverse populations 21,30,31 have demonstrated that MYWK is easy to use, 31 effective for improving knowledge about end-of-life medical decisions, 19 accurate in representing patients’ wishes, 20 and helpful to clinicians. 32 Prior research showed that users spend, on average, 70 minutes (range, 15-120 minutes) to complete MYWK.…”