The association between Family Meeting (FM) and the accessibility of Advance Care Planning (ACP) for terminally ill patients

Background
Advance Care Planning (ACP) is widely considered an essential step toward achieving palliative care. However, only a few studies have examined the association of Family Meeting (FM) with the accessibility of ACP for terminally ill patients.

Objectives
To evaluate the association between FM and the accessibility of ACP for terminally ill patients

Material and methods
A retrospective cohort study was undertaken. Data was collected from the medical records of patients who received palliative care in a community hospital between 2018–2021. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of patients and caregivers. Chi-squared and/or independent t-Tests were used to analyse the association between characteristics and FM received, while Risk Ratio (RR) was used to analyse the association between FM and receiving ACP.

Results
149 terminally ill patients were recruited for this study. 47 patients (31.5%) received FM, while 102 patients (68.5%) did not receive FM. The mean age of the FM group was statistically significantly higher than that of the non-FM group (p < 0.001). In addition, patients who had a caregiver and patients with Activities Daily Living (ADL) scores equal or below 4, as well as patients who had Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) scores equal or below 30, were statistical found to have received significantly more FM (p < 0.01). Patients of the FM group had experienced ACP nearly twice more than patients of the non-FM group (89.4% vs 39.2%; RR = 2.28; 95% CI = 1.76–2.96; p < 0.001).

Conclusions
Terminally ill patients receiving FM were two times more likely to have access to ACP compared to those who did not obtain FM.