title: Advance care planning: identifying system-specific barriers and facilitators.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Advance care planning (acp) is an important process in health care today. How to prospectively identify potential local barriers and facilitators to uptake of acp across a complex, multi-sector, publicly funded health care system and how to develop specific mitigating strategies have not been well characterized.
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed a convenience sample of clinical and administrative health care opinion leaders across the province of Alberta to characterize system-specific barriers and facilitators to uptake of acp. The survey was based on published literature about the barriers to and facilitators of acp and on the Michie Theoretical Domains Framework.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 88 surveys, 51 (58%) were returned. The survey identified system-specific barriers that could challenge uptake of acp. The factors were categorized into four main domains. Three examples of individual system-specific barriers were "insufficient public engagement and misunderstanding," "conflict among different provincial health service initiatives," and "lack of infrastructure." Local system-specific barriers and facilitators were subsequently explored through a semi-structured informal discussion group involving key informants. The group identified approaches to mitigate specific barriers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Uptake of acp is a priority for many health care systems, but bringing about change in multi-sector health care systems is complex. Identifying system-specific barriers and facilitators to the uptake of innovation are important elements of successful knowledge translation. We developed and successfully used a simple and inexpensive process to identify local system-specific barriers and enablers to uptake of acp, and to identify specific mitigating strategies.
authors: Departments of Oncology, Clinical Neurosciences, and Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB;
authors: N A
authors: NA
authors: Hagen
authors: Division of Cardiology, Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB;
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Howlett
authors: Division of Cardiology, Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB;
authors: N C
authors: NC
authors: Sharma
authors: Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB;
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Biondo
authors: Departments of Medicine and Community Health Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB;
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Holroyd-Leduc
authors: Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, and Covenant Health Palliative Institute, Edmonton, AB.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Fassbender
authors: Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB;
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Simon
keywords: Advance care planning; goals of care designation; knowledge translation