Campus Location
Abilene Campus (Residential)
Date of Award
5-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Social Work
Degree Name
Master of Science
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Kyeonghee Jang
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Rachel Slaymaker
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Lauren Grizzard
Abstract
Advance care planning (ACP) is the process of aligning patients’ values and preferences to their future medical care. ACP is important in promoting patient autonomy and helping patients and their families prepare for end-of-life conversations. Healthcare teams, made up of physicians, nurses, or social workers, carry the responsibility to engage patients into such conversations. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of healthcare professionals regarding ACP outcomes and barriers. This cross- sectional study used survey responses of a convivence sample of 18 allied healthcare professionals and 4 physicians in a not-for-profit, faith-based hospital system in West Texas to measure willingness, confidence, and participation in ACP, and barriers related to those outcomes as professionals. This study found moderate to high mean ratings for ACP outcomes for physicians and allied healthcare professionals. The regression analysis showed allied healthcare professionals who perceived higher barriers in their roles had lower confidence in engaging in ACP with patients. From the current study and analyzed literature, the researcher suggests healthcare professionals need to have opportunities to expand their knowledge and confidence in ACP conversations to promote better patient outcomes in end-of-life care.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Parsons, Faith, "Perceived Outcomes and Barriers of Advance Care Planning from Healthcare Professionals" (2023). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 608.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/608