Volunteer Involvement in Advance Care Planning: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Context. Volunteer involvement may support organizations to initiate and operationalize complex interventions such as advance care planning (ACP). Objectives. A scoping review was conducted to map existing research on volunteer involvement in ACP and to identify gaps in current knowledge base. Methods. We followed the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. The review included studies of any design reporting original research. ACP was defined as any intervention aimed at supporting people to consider and communicate their current and future health treatment goals in the context of their own preferences and values. Studies were included if they reported data relating to volunteers at any stage in the delivery of ACP. Results. Of 11 studies identified, nine different ACP models (initiatives to improve uptake of ACP) were described. Most of the models involved volunteers facilitating ACP conversations or advance care directive completion (n ¼ 6); and three focused on ACP education, training, and support. However, a framework for volunteer involvement in ACP was not described; the studies often provided limited detail of the scope of volunteers' roles in ACP, and in three of the models, volunteers delivered ACP initiatives in addition to undertaking other tasks, in their primary role as a volunteer navigator. Increased frequency of ACP conversation or documentation was most commonly used to evaluate the effectiveness of the studies, with most showing a trend toward improvement. Conclusions. Current literature on volunteer involvement in ACP is lacking a systematic approach to implementation. We suggest future research should focus on person-centered outcomes related to ACP to evaluate the effectiveness of volunteer involvement.

Emotional and Educational Accompaniment through Dialogic Literary Gatherings: A Volunteer Project for Families Who Suffer Digital Exclusion in the Context of COVID-19

“…From the volunteers' point of view, participation in this activity led to increased well-being, and this result was consistent with previous studies in the areas of volunteering and solidarity actions [28][29][30][31][32]. The volunteers explained how they had developed a series of interesting competencies, especially their capacity for "citizenship, inclusion, and diversity", "social commitment" and "personal growth".…”

“…Solidarity is "the most important task that modern societies entrust to educational systems" [25] (p. 201), a point of view that is consistent with other studies [26,27]. It is also necessary to highlight the importance of volunteering promoted by initiatives such as learning communities as an alternative to the difficulties indicated above [28][29][30][31][32].…”

Understanding public attitudes to death talk and advance care planning in Northern Ireland using health behaviour change theory: a qualitative study

“…Although there was an identified need to encourage individual responsibility in initiating these conversations, this theme largely centred around equipping interested individuals with the ‘tools’ for engagement. There has been a focus on developing evidence-based peer-led ACP facilitator training programmes [ 61 ], involving either peers or lay volunteers. This has involved facilitating ACP conversations and advance care directive completion, and provision of ACP education, training, and support.…”

Part of the solution: A survey of community organisation perspectives on barriers and facilitating actions to Advance Care Planning in British Columbia, Canada

“…Volunteers are integral to the structure and function of many ACP initiatives worldwide. 14 In the spring of 2016, the British Columbia Centre for Palliative Care introduced Canada's first community-led ACP education programme. Through this programme, the British Columbia Centre for Palliative Care has trained and equipped over 200 community-based nonprofits across British Columbia with toolkits, seed funding and coaching to help them deliver group conversation games and information sessions about ACP to the public.…”