Preferences for psychiatric advance directives among Latinos: views on advance care planning for mental health.
OBJECTIVE
Psychiatric advance directives allow people to plan for future mental health care. Little is known about how minority groups, particularly Latinos, view these legal mechanisms. This study examined demand for, and attitudes toward, psychiatric advance directives among Latinos with mental illness (N=85), their family members (N=25), and their clinicians (N=30).


METHODS
All participants were interviewed.


RESULTS
Participants showed substantial interest in completing psychiatric advance directives, specifically involving family or other surrogates in the preparation and execution. There were few between-group differences in attitudes toward directives.


CONCLUSIONS
Psychiatric advance directives provide an acceptable way to increase culturally appropriate services and family involvement for Latinos with mental illness. Psychiatric advance directive interventions should capitalize on the centrality of the family in Latino culture, which could provide an opportunity to reduce mental health crises in this population.
Van Dorn
Richard A
RA
Department of Mental Health Law and Policy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. rvandorn@fmhi.usf.edu
Swanson
Jeffrey W
JW
Swartz
Marvin S
MS
D000328:Adult; D016223:Advance Directives; D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders; D008875:Middle Aged; D057240:Patient Preference