Recent trends in advance directives at nursing home admission and one year after admission.
OBJECTIVE
Advance directives are important planning and decision-making tools for individuals in nursing homes.


METHODS
By using the nursing facility Minimum Data Set, we examined the prevalence of advance directives at admission and 12 months post-admission.


RESULTS
The prevalence of having any advance directive at admission declined slightly from 2000 to 2004, whereas the prevalence of having any advanced directive at 12 months after admission increased slightly during the same period. Compared with admissions, residents at 12 months post-admission were more likely to have their decisions made by family members and to have advance directives of any type.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that greater use of advance directives in nursing homes may depend on additional information and support from nursing facility personnel and the health and social services professionals who are in contact with individuals moving toward nursing home admission, as well as those who remain in facilities over time.
McAuley
William J
WJ
Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Center for Social Science Research, George Mason University, 4260 Chain Bridge Road, MSN 1H5, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA. wmcauley@gmu.edu
Buchanan
Robert J
RJ
Travis
Shirley S
SS
Wang
Suojin
S
Kim
MyungSuk
M
D016223:Advance Directives / Q000639:trends*; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000639:trends*; D013997:Time Factors