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The perception of Israeli oncology staff members regarding advance care planning

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Abstract

Background

Advance care planning (ACP) defines end-of-life care in accordance with the patients’ preferences. It is highly important during mental and/or physical deterioration, which prevents patients from expressing their wishes. Despite various attempts worldwide to promote the issue, it is not well established, suggesting various challenges in the implementation of the process in the medical system. The current study aimed to evaluate the perception of Israeli oncology staff members regarding the process.

Methods

Physicians and nurses from a division of oncology participated in the study. They completed the study’s questionnaires, which included quantitative items regarding staff and patients’ motives and barriers, as well as qualitative questions to better evaluate their understanding regarding the process.

Results

According to staff members, the optimal time to complete the forms is during the final stages of the disease. Making the right medical decisions and avoiding unnecessary medical procedures were rated as the main motives for patients in the process. The communication factor was perceived as the main barrier for patients, as well as the main motive and barrier for staff. The central role of communication was demonstrated in the qualitative section as well. Various differences were demonstrated between staff members who talked with patients about ACP and those who did not.

Conclusion

The study demonstrated the central role of communication in the process of ACP from the staff’s perception. This highlights the need to further promote training programs for staff members to establish better interactions and communication skills when dealing with end-of-life issues.

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Funding

The Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research in Israel supported this study. It was not involved at any stage of data collection, interpretation of results or the writing of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Oncology & Hematology, Emek Medical Center, 21 Yitzhak Rabin Blvd., 1834111, Afula, Israel

    Gil Bar-Sela & Olga Vornicova

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    Gil Bar-Sela

  3. Division of Oncology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel

    Shlomit Bagon, Inbal Mitnik, Svetlana Baziliansky & Tzahala Tzuk-Shina

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Avigail Bar-Sella

Authors
  1. Gil Bar-Sela
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  2. Shlomit Bagon
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  3. Inbal Mitnik
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  4. Svetlana Baziliansky
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  5. Avigail Bar-Sella
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  6. Olga Vornicova
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  7. Tzahala Tzuk-Shina
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Correspondence to Gil Bar-Sela.

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No author has any conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Rambam Health Care Campus RMC 0510-15.

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Bar-Sela, G., Bagon, S., Mitnik, I. et al. The perception of Israeli oncology staff members regarding advance care planning. Support Care Cancer 28, 4183–4191 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-05253-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-05253-7

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