Preparing Spanish-speaking Older Adults for Advance Care Planning and Medical Decision Making (PREPARE)

Experimental: PREPARE intervention

The PREPARE arm will review the PREPARE website plus the easy-to-read advance directive (AD). Participants will review PREPARE on their own for ≥20 minutes with staff present to answer questions. During PREPARE, participants answer preference questions and make an action plan (i.e., commitment to engage in advance care planning). To ensure home access to PREPARE content, participants will be given a website login and PREPARE content in digital video disc (DVD), booklet, and pamphlet format as well as the action plan and AD. One to three days before a primary care visit, the PREPARE arm will receive a reminder to come to their appointment and to bring their action plan.

Conductual: PREPARE Intervention

At week 1, 3, 6, and 12 months, interviews (telephone or in person based on preference) by blinded staff will assess engagement in advance care planning (ACP), self-efficacy with ACP, and activation in and satisfaction with decision making. Blinded telephone interviews will also assess surrogate reports of patient engagement in ACP.

Sin intervención: Control

The control arm will review an easy-to-read AD. Controls will review the AD for ≥15 minutes with study staff present to answer questions and will take the AD home to complete if desired. One to three days before a primary care visit, controls will receive a reminder to come to their appointment.

New Advance Care Planning Documentation in the Medical Record at 15 Months

The primary outcome is documentation of advance care planning wishes in the medical record. ACP documentation for the purposes of this study includes the easy-to-read advance directive or other valid advance directives or living wills, a durable power of attorney for healthcare document (DPOAHC), a physicians orders for life sustaining treatment (POLST) form, or other documentation of patients wishes for medical care (ie, documentation of oral directives by a physician, or code status, such as full code or do not resuscitate or do not intubate orders or notes by a physician).

Self-reported Engagement in Advance Care Planning Behaviors

Secondary outcomes were chosen to measure the full process of Advance Care Planning (ACP) using validated questionnaires, such as the patient-reported ACP Engagement Survey. This questionnaire includes both Behavior Change Process and ACP Action measures. Behavior Change Process measures include knowledge, contemplation, self-efficacy, and readiness for several ACP actions. The Process measures are assessed on an average 5-point Likert scale with a low of 1 and a high of 5, with high scores indicating more ACP engagement. Action measures include ACP actions such as identifying a surrogate decision-maker, identifying values and goals for medical care, choosing the level of leeway in surrogate decision-making, discussing one's wishes with clinicians and surrogates, and documenting one's wishes in an advance directive. Action measures use "yes" or "no" response options and are measured on a 0- to 25-point scale, where 0 is no action and 25 means they have engaged in more ACP actions.