To (1) examine the attitudes of community-dwelling adults towards death and their ability to cope with death, as well as (2) understand the influence of advance care planning on community-dwelling adults' death attitudes and coping with death.
A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was conducted in Singapore.
In Phase I, a case–control study was conducted to examine the differences in death attitudes and coping with death ability between community-dwelling adults who have completed advance care planning and those who have not. A univariate general linear model was used to compute the mean difference in death attitudes and coping with death scores. In Phase II, a descriptive qualitative study was conducted to provide an in-depth understanding of the influence of advance care planning among community-dwelling adults. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative analysis. Mixed-methods analysis was conducted to integrate the quantitative and qualitative data.
In Phase I, 80 community-dwelling adults who had completed advance care planning and 81 community-dwelling adults who did not have advance care planning were included. Adults who had completed advance care planning had significantly higher coping with death scores (t = 4.14, p < 0.01). In Phase II, a purposive sample of 24 adults who had completed advance care planning was selected for individual semi-structured interviews. From the thematic analysis, three themes were developed: (1) Advance care planning enables coping with death, (2) overcoming fear of death with advance care planning and (3) confronting death with advance care planning.
Advance care planning may influence death attitudes and coping with death. Further work on longitudinal designs and among individuals from different age groups should be used to gain further in-depth understanding of the impacts of advance care planning.
Strategies to enhance one's coping abilities with death and death attitudes should be developed to stimulate the uptake of advance care planning.
This paper was reported according to the Good Reporting of A Mixed Methods Study framework.
Community-dwelling adults participated in the survey and interviews.
Identify and describe patient engagement interventions used to improve medication management in older adults during transitions of care.
A mixed-methods systematic review.
A comprehensive search of all study designs was conducted. Studies were categorised using the ladder of patient and family engagement, a framework that positions engagement from low (passive) to high (active partnership) patient engagement.
Six databases were searched from inception to April 2024.
The search yielded 29 reports, with 25 classified as studies. Most interventions (n = 19, 76%) were low-level interventions that comprised informing patients in a passive manner. Interventions that facilitated high-level engagement (n = 6, 24%) where patients were integrated in the decision-making process were associated with consistently improved patient and healthcare long-term outcomes.
While low and high-level engagement interventions were associated with significantly decreased hospital readmission rates, high-level interventions consistently demonstrated positive patient outcomes. Interventions supporting older adults beyond discharge achieved meaningful and lasting patient and healthcare outcomes for older adults.
Findings provide clinical reference for designing engagement interventions, highlighting long-term benefits of partnership-based approaches and continuity beyond discharge.
Engagement in medication management during transitions of care varied significantly. High-level engagement was consistently linked to improved patient and healthcare outcomes but was often resource intensive. This review identifies the need to design balanced interventions that align with the preferences of older adults and real-world contextual healthcare settings.
PRISMA guidelines.
No patient or public contribution.
PROSPERO (registration number CRD42024557385).