Aging is not an Illness : Exploring Geriatricians' Resistance to Serious Illness Conversations
(2023) In Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 66(3). p.313-317- Abstract
CONTEXT: Serious illness conversations help clinicians align medical decisions with patients' goals, values, and priorities and are considered an essential component of shared decision-making. Yet geriatricians at our institution have expressed reluctance about the serious illness care program.
OBJECTIVES: We sought to explore geriatricians' perspectives on serious illness conversations.
METHODS: We conducted focus groups with interprofessional stakeholders in geriatrics.
RESULTS: Three key themes emerged that help explain the reluctance of clinicians caring for older patients to have or document serious illness conversations: 1) aging in itself is not a serious illness; 2) geriatricians often focus on positive... (More)
CONTEXT: Serious illness conversations help clinicians align medical decisions with patients' goals, values, and priorities and are considered an essential component of shared decision-making. Yet geriatricians at our institution have expressed reluctance about the serious illness care program.
OBJECTIVES: We sought to explore geriatricians' perspectives on serious illness conversations.
METHODS: We conducted focus groups with interprofessional stakeholders in geriatrics.
RESULTS: Three key themes emerged that help explain the reluctance of clinicians caring for older patients to have or document serious illness conversations: 1) aging in itself is not a serious illness; 2) geriatricians often focus on positive adaptation and social determinants of health and in this context, the label of "serious illness conversations" is perceived as limiting; and 3) because aging is not synonymous with illness, important goals-of-care conversations are not necessarily documented as serious illness conversations until an acute illness presents itself.
CONCLUSION: As institutions work to create system-wide processes for documenting conversations about patients' goals and values, the unique communication preferences of older patients and geriatricians should be specifically considered.
(Less)
- author
- Drutchas, Alexis ; Lee, Deborah S ; Levine, Sharon ; Greenwald, Jeffrey L and Jacobsen, Juliet LU
- publishing date
- 2023-09
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- keywords
- Humans, Geriatricians, Communication, Aging, Critical Illness/therapy
- in
- Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
- volume
- 66
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 313 - 317
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:37209998
- scopus:85160723439
- ISSN
- 1873-6513
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.05.004
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Copyright © 2023 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
- id
- e63cebc5-6b31-4a9b-8042-428c1ae62198
- date added to LUP
- 2024-09-17 14:30:44
- date last changed
- 2024-09-18 07:59:57
@article{e63cebc5-6b31-4a9b-8042-428c1ae62198,
abstract = {{<p>CONTEXT: Serious illness conversations help clinicians align medical decisions with patients' goals, values, and priorities and are considered an essential component of shared decision-making. Yet geriatricians at our institution have expressed reluctance about the serious illness care program.</p><p>OBJECTIVES: We sought to explore geriatricians' perspectives on serious illness conversations.</p><p>METHODS: We conducted focus groups with interprofessional stakeholders in geriatrics.</p><p>RESULTS: Three key themes emerged that help explain the reluctance of clinicians caring for older patients to have or document serious illness conversations: 1) aging in itself is not a serious illness; 2) geriatricians often focus on positive adaptation and social determinants of health and in this context, the label of "serious illness conversations" is perceived as limiting; and 3) because aging is not synonymous with illness, important goals-of-care conversations are not necessarily documented as serious illness conversations until an acute illness presents itself.</p><p>CONCLUSION: As institutions work to create system-wide processes for documenting conversations about patients' goals and values, the unique communication preferences of older patients and geriatricians should be specifically considered.</p>}},
author = {{Drutchas, Alexis and Lee, Deborah S and Levine, Sharon and Greenwald, Jeffrey L and Jacobsen, Juliet}},
issn = {{1873-6513}},
keywords = {{Humans; Geriatricians; Communication; Aging; Critical Illness/therapy}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{313--317}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Journal of Pain and Symptom Management}},
title = {{Aging is not an Illness : Exploring Geriatricians' Resistance to Serious Illness Conversations}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.05.004}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.05.004}},
volume = {{66}},
year = {{2023}},
}