title: LVAD patients' and surrogates' perspectives on SPIRIT-HF: An advance care planning discussion.
abstract: To describe LVAD patients' and surrogates' experiences with, and perspectives on SPIRIT-HF, an advance care planning (ACP) intervention.
  
  
  
  ACP is important for patients with LVAD, yet little is known about their experiences or those of their surrogates who have participated in ACP discussions.
  
  
  
  We used qualitative content analysis techniques to conduct a secondary analysis of 28 interviews with patients with LVAD (n = 14) and their surrogates (n = 14) who had participated in an RCT pilot study of SPIRIT-HF.
  
  
  
  Main themes from the data include: 1) sharing their HF stories was very beneficial; 2) participating in SPIRIT-HF led to greater peace of mind for patients and surrogates; 3) "one size does not fit all" when it comes to timing of ACP discussions.
  
  
  
  An understanding patient and surrogate perspectives may inform clinicians' approach to ACP discussions.
authors.affiliation: University of Virginia School of Nursing, VA, USA. Electronic address: mjm9@virginia.edu.
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Metzger
authors.affiliation: Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Mi-Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Devane-Johnson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032722:Advance Care Planning / Q000592:standards*; D000368:Aged; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Advance care planning intervention; End-of-life; Family members; LVADs; Perspectives; Surrogates