Development and testing of a decision aid on goals of care for advanced dementia

Decision aids are effective to improve decision-making, yet they are rarely tested in nursing homes (NHs). Study objectives were to (1) examine the feasibility of a goals of care (GOC) decision aid for surrogate decision-makers (SDMs) of persons with dementia; and (2) to test its effect on quality of communication and decision-making.

Pre-post intervention to test a GOC decision aid intervention for SDMs for persons with dementia in NHs. Investigators collected data from reviews of resident health records and interviews with SDMs at baseline and 3-month follow-up.

Two NHs in North Carolina.

Eighteen residents who were over 65 years of age, had moderate to severe dementia on the global deterioration scale (5, 6, or 7), and an English-speaking surrogate decision-maker.

(1) GOC decision aid video viewed by the SDM and (2) a structured care plan meeting between the SDM and interdisciplinary NH team.

Surrogate knowledge, quality of communication with health care providers, surrogate-provider concordance on goals of care, and palliative care domains addressed in the care plan.

Eighty-nine percent of the SDMs thought the decision aid was relevant to their needs. After viewing the video decision aid, SDMs increased the number of correct responses on knowledge-based questions (12.5 vs 14.2; P < .001). At 3 months, they reported improved quality of communication scores (6.1 vs 6.8; P = .01) and improved concordance on primary goal of care with NH team (50% vs 78%; P = .003). The number of palliative care domains addressed in the care plan increased (1.8 vs 4.3; P < .001).

The decision-support intervention piloted in this study was feasible and relevant for surrogate decision-makers of persons with advanced dementia in NHs, and it improved quality of communication between SDM and NH providers. A larger randomized clinical trial is underway to provide further evidence of the effects of this decision aid intervention.