Preferences for end-of-life care: A cross-sectional survey of Chinese frail nursing home residents

Aim and Objectives: To assess (1) the experience, knowledge and preferences of end-of-life care among frail nursing home residents and (2) the preferences of residents' family caregivers. Background: Globally, nursing homes are becoming an important place where many older people will receive their end-of-life care. Thus, assessing the end-of-life care preferences among nursing home residents is crucial. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Methods: Residents aged ≥65 years, with frail or pre-frail status (n = 286) in 34 nursing homes were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the outcomes and regression analyses were used to evaluate factors related to the outcomes. Kappa statistics were used to examine the agreement between the preferences among 21 residents and their family caregivers. The manuscript was guided by the STROBE checklist. Results: 5.9% and 10.5% of the participants had heard of advance care planning and advance directive respectively. After explanations of the terms by the research team, 42.3% of the participants preferred advance care planning, whereas 22.0% preferred advance directive. The top reason for not preferring advance care planning/advance directive is perceiving them as ‘not necessary’. Nursing homes were the most preferred place to receive end-of-life care (41.6%). Whereas hospitals were the most preferred place for death (36.0%). The agreement among resident and family caregiver dyads ranged from none to minimal in most outcomes. Conclusions: This study revealed the lack of awareness around advance care planning and advance directive among frail nursing home residents. Future research should focus on developing effective educational interventions to enhance the residents' awareness of these topics. Relevance to clinical practice: To increase awareness among nursing home residents, more educational programs should be implemented. Frail older residents might not see the relevance of advance care planning; interventions need to include both current and future care to increase its relevance.