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Research Article: Situation, Education, Innovation, and Recommendation: A Large-Scale Systematic Review of Advance Care Planning in the Age of COVID-19

Date Published: 2024-03-15

Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for advance care planning (ACP) as a way to help mitigate the various care concerns that accompanied the healthcare crisis. However, unique obstacles to typical ACP practice necessitated the need for guidance and innovation to help facilitate these vital conversations. The aim of this systematic review was to identify the various ACP barriers and facilitators that arose during the pandemic and determine how ACP practice was affected across different contexts and among different populations. This systematic review (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022359092), which adheres to the PRISMA guidelines for reporting systematic reviews, examined studies on ACP in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The review involved searches of five databases, including MEDLINE and Embase. Of the 843 identified studies, 115 met the inclusion criteria. The extracted ACP barriers and facilitators were codified and quantified. The most frequently occurring ACP barrier codes were: Social distancing measures and visitation restrictions, Uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 prognosis, and Technological/Telehealth barriers. The most frequently occurring ACP facilitator codes were the following: Telehealth/virtual ACP platforms, Training for clinicians, and Care team collaboration. Identifying the ACP barriers and facilitators is essential for developing effective, resilient ACP promotion strategies and improving its delivery, accessibility, and acceptability.

Introduction:
The COVID-19 pandemic was most devastating, in many respects, for older adults; not only was the SARS-Covid-2 virus more deadly in this population, but the damage caused by the social isolation that many faced was profound [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. For older adults and other vulnerable populations, the pandemic brought to the forefront the critical importance of advance care planning (ACP). ACP is a well-established and evidenced practice that helps to ensure the wishes of a person, regarding their medical care and…

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