Talk to Me
Talk to Me is a study where patients at four hospitals in Ontario and Alberta will be surveyed and interviewed to better understand the communication needs of patients engaged in advance care planning (ACP) with their physicians.
Research results:
Reports and findings
Publications, presentations and webinars
Why this research matters:
To decision-makers; to frail older adults and families; to researchers
About the Project
Recent work at Canadian hospitals has found there is often poor quality of communication between seriously ill patients and their physicians about ACP. The Talk to Me results will inform ongoing efforts across Canada to improve doctors’ ACP skills. The findings will provide key information to be included in ACP skill-building seminars and workshops for physicians, and will help to design other strategies to improve the quality of ACP in Canada.
Ultimately this will improve the care of the seriously ill. Health care providers will be more informed about their patients’ preferences for communication around ACP and be better equipped to care for patients as they consider their wishes for care at the end of life.
Project Team
Principal Investigators:
Jessica Simon, MBChb, FRCPC — University of Calgary
John You, MD, MSc, FRCPC — McMaster University
Biographies of the Principal Investigators are available on the “Our Researchers” page; click here to view.
Co-Investigators:
Kevin Brazil, PhD — Queen’s University, Belfast, UK
Diana Sherifali, PhD, BScN, McMaster University
Project Contact: Dr. John You — jyou@mcmaster.ca
CORE 2013-05
Key words: Frailty; aging; hip replacement
Talk to Me is a study where patients at four hospitals in Ontario and Alberta will be surveyed and interviewed to better understand the communication needs of patients engaged in advance care planning (ACP) with their physicians.
Project Contact: Dr. John You — jyou@mcmaster.ca
Key Findings for Policy Decision Makers
- Most physicians did not discuss advanced care planning with patients, despite the patients’ desire to have these discussions.
- The patients’ readiness for advanced care planning was an important factor.
- The content of the discussion needs to be tailored to the patients’ willingness and readiness to discuss advanced care planning.
Why this matters
Advanced care planning (discussing what medical treatment the patient wants as they get sicker) can reduce health care cost at the end of life and improve the quality of care during this crucial time. However, effective advanced care planning is poorly done in Canadian hospitals. The reasons for ineffective advanced care planning in critically ill elderly patients are unknown.
These findings can inform policy around advanced care planning during end of life care in hospital
- Physicians need to assess the patients’ readiness to discuss advanced care planning.
- The discussion around advanced care planning should be patient-centered and tailored to their readiness.
Study summary
- The study’s objective was to determine the needs of patients around advanced care planning at the end of life.
- This was a mixed-methods study – a survey and interviews.
- The patients that participated in the study were seriously ill elderly patients, in hospital.
- The study included 132 patients, and took place in 4 hospitals in Alberta and Ontario.
Talk to Me is a study where patients at four hospitals in Ontario and Alberta will be surveyed and interviewed to better understand the communication needs of patients engaged in advance care planning (ACP) with their physicians.
Principal Investigators:
Jessica Simon, MBChb, FRCPC — University of Calgary
John You, MD, MSc, FRCPC — McMaster University
Biographies of the Principal Investigators are available on the “Our Researchers” page; click here to view.
Key findings:
Please click on the relevant link:
Decision-makers; frail older adults and families; researchers
Publications, Presentations and Webinars