How advance care planning can improve life in a pandemic and beyond

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a dramatic increase in advance care planning (ACP) and the creation of advance directives, also known as living wills, in the United States. New research, published in AIDS and Behavior, shows the effectiveness of an ACP model developed through participatory research with adolescents in improving palliative care among adult people living with HIV (PLWH).

These findings demonstrate that ACP positively contributes to the palliative care of adult PLWH by relieving suffering and maximizing quality of life. The intervention was based on the FAmily CEntered (FACE) Advance Care Model, which was developed and tested by principal investigator Maureen E. Lyon, Ph.D., and her colleagues.

Dr. Lyon’s team used this model successfully with adolescents living with HIV as part of five-year, five-site trial that included Children’s National Hospital. The trial was co-funded by the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Nursing Research. The success of that study was parlayed into a new five-year study testing a slightly modified ACP intervention in adults, with Children’s National serving as the coordinating center. “The adolescents showed us the way,” says Dr. Lyon.

The paper details the findings of a longitudinal, two arm, randomized controlled clinical trial examining whether an ACP intervention aimed at adult PLWH and their families correlated with higher congruence in treatment preferences, as well as higher congruence over time. Patient-surrogate dyads were randomized to an ACP intervention arm or an active control arm at a 2:1 ratio (86 intervention dyads and 43 control dyads at 18-month follow up), due to prior demonstrated benefit of ACP.

The ACP intervention consisted of two 60-minute, patient-focused sessions. During session 1, Respecting Choices Next Steps® ACP Conversation, both patients and their surrogate decision-makers focused on the patients’ understanding of HIV, experience of symptoms, fears, hopes and worries. Next, a patient’s treatment preferences were explored via the Statement of Treatment Preferences (SoTP), which became a part of the patient’s electronic health record (EHR). Surrogates were questioned on their comprehension and willingness to comply with the patient’s wishes. Session 1 was acknowledged as the beginning of a conversation, and continued conversation between the dyad was encouraged.

Session 2, Five Wishes©, involved a facilitator guiding the dyad through a Five Wishes© advance directive. Session 2 resulted in legal documentation of a patient’s preferences in five specific areas: The patient’s preferred health care decision-maker, the kind of medical treatment the patient wants, how comfortable the patient wants to be, how the patient wants people to treat him/her and what the patient wants loved ones to know. The patient, surrogate and treating physicians all received a copy, and a copy was also submitted to the patient’s EHR.

Dyads in the control arm participated in two 60-minute sessions entitled Developmental or Relationship History (excluding any medical questions) and Nutrition & Exercise.

The researchers then assessed treatment preference congruence for each patient-surrogate dyad by presenting them with five different hypothetical scenarios. After the first session, congruence across all scenarios was significantly higher among ACP intervention dyads compared to control dyads. ACP patients were also significantly more likely to give their surrogates leeway in treatment decision making compared to control patients.

Compared to control dyads, ACP dyads were significantly more likely to maintain High → High congruence transition and significantly less likely to experience Low → Low congruence transition as measured from immediately post-intervention to 12-months post-intervention. The only two cases of Low → High congruence transition occurred in the intervention arm. Of note, ACP surrogates accurately reported on changes in patient preferences over one year, showing the positive impact of early conversation on longitudinal congruence.

Dr. Lyon hopes these results will encourage people to talk to their loved ones as soon as possible about ACP, not only during the current pandemic but into the future. “People can use what’s happening in the news as a trigger to begin these conversations,” she says. “The 1990 Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) encourages persons of all ages– including children and their parents– to decide the type and extent of medical care they want to accept or refuse if they become unable to make those decisions due to illness. Our research shows conversations matter.”

The original research paper, “Effect of FAmily CEntered (FACE®)Advance Care Planning on Longitudinal Congruence in End-of-Life Treatment Preferences: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” was recently published in AIDS and Behavior. Dr. Maureen E. Lyon, Ph.D., FABPP, of the Center for Translational Research/Children’s Research Institute, was the principal investigator of the trial and a co-senior of the paper.