Ann Geriatr Med Res.
2019 Jun;23(2):63-70. 10.4235/agmr.19.0010.
Korean Medical Professionals' Attitudes and Experiences on Advance Care Planning for Noncancerous Disease
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Family Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Korea.
- 2Department of Family Medicine, National Center for Mental Health, Seoul, Korea.
- 3Department of Family Medicine/Supportive Care Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. dwshin.md@gmail.com, drjohn.yoo@samsung.com
- 4Department of Digital Health, Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences & Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea.
- KMID: 2452840
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.4235/agmr.19.0010
Abstract
- BACKGROUND
Advance care planning (ACP) allows patients to declare their preferences for life-sustaining and hospice palliative care. However, the perception of ACP remains low in Korea. The present study assessed the attitudes and status of medical professionals in relation to end-of-life care decisions in older and noncancerous patients.
METHODS
This descriptive correlation study was performed to understand the attitudes regarding and status of ACP and advance directives (AD). For this purpose, we conducted a survey of members who attended the Spring Conference of the Korean Geriatrics Society in May 2015 using a questionnaire that included questions on experiences related to AD, opinions on disturbance factors and improvement measures, and questions about the status of their medical institutions.
RESULTS
All of 181 respondents were doctors. Among the respondents, 21.7% had the experience of treating patients who had completed an AD. Medical professionals saw AD use as appropriate for terminal patients with less than 6 months of life expectancy, as well as those with degenerative neurological disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, chronic diseases such as chronic renal disease, and early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
CONCLUSION
The results showed that geriatrics medical professionals agreed with the necessity for AD in noncancerous terminal diseases and that consideration of a family-centered decision-making culture, legal protection for medical professionals, and education of the general public and medical professionals will be helpful for the popularization of AD.
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