Effect of an End-of-Life Planning Intervention on the completion of advance directives in homeless persons: a randomized trial.
BACKGROUND
Few interventions have focused on improving end-of-life care for underserved populations, such as homeless persons.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether homeless persons will complete a counseling session on advance care planning and fill out a legal advance directive designed to assess care preferences and preserve the dignity of marginalized persons.


METHODS
Prospective, single-blind, randomized trial comparing self-guided completion of an advance directive with professionally assisted advance care planning. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00546884)


METHODS
8 sites serving homeless persons in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


METHODS
262 homeless persons recruited between November 2007 and August 2008.


METHODS
Minimal, self-guided intervention consisting of advance directive forms and written educational information versus a one-on-one advance planning intervention consisting of counseling and completing an advance directive with a social worker.


METHODS
Rate of advance directive completion, assessed by inspection of completed documents.


RESULTS
The overall completion rate for advance directives was 26.7% (95% CI, 21.5% to 32.5%), with a higher rate in the counselor-guided group (37.9%) than in the self-guided group (12.8%) (CI of adjusted difference, 15.3 to 34.3 percentage points). This difference persisted across all sites and most subgroups. The advance directive's 4 clinical scenarios found a preference for surrogate decision making in 29% to 34% of written responses.


CONCLUSIONS
Sampling was limited to a more stable subset of the homeless population in Minneapolis and may have been subject to selection bias. Modest compensation to complete the preintervention survey could have influenced participants to complete advance directives.


CONCLUSIONS
Both a simple and complex intervention successfully engaged a diverse sample of homeless persons in advance care planning. One-on-one assistance significantly increased the completion rate. Homeless persons can respond to an intervention to plan for end-of-life care and can express specific preferences for care or a surrogate decision maker, but additional studies are needed to assess the effect of these directives on subsequent care.


BACKGROUND
National Institute for Nursing Research and National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
Song
John
J
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. songx006@umn.edu
Ratner
Edward R
ER
Wall
Melanie M
MM
Bartels
Dianne M
DM
Ulvestad
Nancy
N
Petroskas
Dawn
D
West
Melissa
M
Weber-Main
Anne Marie
AM
Grengs
Leah
L
Gelberg
Lillian
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016223:Advance Directives; D000368:Aged; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult