title: End of life decision-making for cancer patients.
abstract: This article reviews research on end-of-life (EOL) decision-making in general and published guidelines on communicating with patients about EOL treatment options. The literature on EOL decision-making, most of which concerns advance care planning decisions, has identified several factors that influence treatment choices including race, religiosity, current health, and family conflict. This literature also documents widespread lack of understanding about dying and palliative care and fears of abandonment by health care providers. This article reviews guidelines for communicating with patients, stresses the role of prognostication in good decision-making, and provides numerous suggestions for initiating and structuring conversations with patients and families about EOL care.
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. susan.parks@jefferson.edu
authors.forename: Susan Mockus
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Parks
authors.forename: Laraine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Winter
mesh_terms: D016223:Advance Directives / Q000523:psychology*; D001293:Attitude to Death; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D016743:Mental Competency; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000458:organization & administration; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology*