Project Team
Summary of project
Advance care planning (ACP) as a process of discussing and recording wishes for future care and treatment is increasingly being promoted and discussed in the UK, reflecting changes in recent legislation. The Nuffield Foundation has funded Counsel and Care, Lancaster University and the University of the West of England to undertake the first survey of ACP practice in English care homes.
The purpose of this study was to describe current ACP practice in care homes for older people; to what extent this is currently undertaken, how this is done and to highlight good practice already in use within the sector in order to develop a good practice guide.
A questionnaire survey and interviews with care home managers were undertaken.
In the first phase, 500 managers of care homes for older people were surveyed. A response rate of 42% (n=213) was achieved. In the second phase, qualitative telephone interviews were undertaken with 15 care home managers. These managers were selected to reflect the range of (good) practice occurring in care homes across the UK.
This approach offers a richness of data when relatively little is known about current ACP and consultation practices in care homes for older people. It is important to note that further output can be expected from this study, as it is beyond the scope of this report to analyse and present all data gathered.
Contact
Dr. Katherine Froggatt, International Observatory on End of Life Care
Institute for Health Research , Bowland Tower East, Lancaster University, LA1 4YT
This final report outlines the study to describe current ACP practice in care homes for older people; to what extent this is currently undertaken, how this is done and to highlight good practice already in use within the sector in order to develop a good practice guide.
(International Observatory on End of Life Care, Lancaster University, April 2008)
This guide follows a research project undertaken by Lancaster University with Counsel and Care, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and care home provider Friends of the Elderly. The project aimed to describe current advance care planning practice in care homes for older people; to what extent this is currently undertaken, and to highlight good practice already in use, in order to develop the guide.
(Council and Care, 11 June 2008)
