Browsing by Author "Ivy, Steven S."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Clarifying Values and Preferences for Care Near the End of Life: The Role of a New Lay Workforce
    (Springer Nature, 2017-10) Litzelman, Debra K.; Inui, Thomas S.; Schmitt-Wendholt, Kathleen M.; Perkins, Anthony; Griffin, Wilma J.; Cottingham, Ann H.; Ivy, Steven S.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Community health workers (CHWs) can engage elderly persons in advance care planning (ACP) conversations. We report how trained CHWs used Go Wish cards (GW R cards) to identify patients' highest priority preferences and evaluated whether engaging in ACP conversations was associated with subsequent health care utilization. A one-year long, pre-post longitudinal design was used to evaluate our educational intervention using mixed-methods. 392 patients (mean of 73.3 years, 82% women, 48% African American, 43% Caucasian) enrolled in the Aging Brain Care (ABC) program and participated in ACP discussions with CHWs. We expanded the role of the ABC's CHW, who work directly with individuals and caregivers during home visits to monitor bio-psycho-social needs, to include ACP conversations. The CHWs received ACP training, practice with tools such as GW R cards, and support from an electronic health record (EHR) clinical decision support tool. Quantitative measures of patients' ACP preferences and health care utilization were abstracted from the EHR. Qualitative data about patients' perceptions of CHWs in facilitating ACP discussions was obtained through semi-structured interviews. Eighty-six patients' data indicated that they had engaged in a preferences-for-care process using GW R cards. The top-three card choices by patients was attending to spirituality and religious concerns, preparing for end of life, and maintaining personal wholeness. CHWs were able to effectively engage in ACP conversations with patients and GW R cards were a positive way to stimulate discussion of issues previously undiscussed.
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    Enhancing the Prospects for Palliative Care at the End of Life: A Statewide Educational Demonstration Project to Improve Advance Care Planning
    (Cambridge, 2016-12) Litzelman, Debra K.; Cottingham, Ann H.; Griffin, Wilma; Inui, Thomas S.; Ivy, Steven S.; Department of Medicine, IU School of Medicine
    Although patients want to participate in discussions and decisions about their end-of-life care, studies show that providers frequently fail to invite them to explore advanced care preferences or goals for living. The purpose of our demonstration project was to provide education and coaching to individuals, health providers, and organizations across the state of Indiana intended to facilitate these conversations, documenting and honoring individuals' life goals and preferences for care during the final stages of life. Education and training engaged community members as well as healthcare providers to: (1) improve participant comfort and facility discussing end-of-life issues; (2) improve knowledge of healthcare choices, including palliative and hospice care; and (3) prepare all participants to explore and document personal values, life goals, and priorities as well as goals of care. Between January of 2013 and June of 2015, the team educated close to 5,000 participants. Participants' ratings of the quality and perceived usefulness of the educational events ranged from 4 to 5 (using a 5-point scale, with 5 = most effective). Participant comments were overwhelmingly favorable and indicated an intention to put the advance care planning resources, communication skills, knowledge of palliative and hospice care, and personal renewal techniques into practice. Participant motivation to foster advance care planning, discussions of palliative care, and end-of-life conversations was facilitated by the reframing of these conversations as identifying goals of care and priorities for living well during an important stage of life. Successful strategies included helping providers and patients to adopt a broader meaning for “sustaining hope” (not for cure, but for engaging in highly valued activities), developing provider communication skills and comfort in initiating potentially difficult discussions, engaging a new community health workforce who will develop trusting relationships with patients in home-based services, and fostering self-awareness and self-care among palliative care providers.
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    Impact of Community Health Workers on Elderly Patients' Advance Care Planning and Health Care Utilization: Moving the Dial
    (Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2017-04) Litzelman, Debra K.; Inui, Thomas S.; Griffin, Wilma J.; Perkins, Anthony; Cottingham, Ann H.; Wendholt, Kathleen M.; Ivy, Steven S.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    BACKGROUND: Advance care planning (ACP) is recommended for all persons to ensure that the care they receive aligns with their values and preferences. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate an ACP intervention developed to better meet the needs and priorities of persons with chronic diseases, including mild cognitive impairment. RESEARCH DESIGN: A year-long, pre-post intervention using lay community health workers [care coordinator assistants (CCAs)] trained to conduct and document ACP conversations with patients during home health visits with pre-post evaluation. SUBJECTS: The 818 patients were 74.2 years old (mean); 78% women; 51% African American; 43% white. MEASURES: Documentation of ACP conversation in electronic health record fields and health care utilization outcomes. RESULTS: In this target population ACP documentation rose from 3.4% (pre-CCA training) to 47.9% (post) of patients who had at least 1 discussion about ACP in the electronic health record. In the 1-year preintervention period, there were no differences in admissions, emergency department (ED) visits, and outpatient visits between patients who did and did not have ACP discussion. After adjusting for prior hospitalization and ED use histories, ACP discussions were associated with a 34% less probability of hospitalization (hazard ratios, 0.66; 95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.97), and similar effects are apparent on ED use independent of age and prior ED use effects. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with chronic diseases including mild cognitive impairment can engage in ACP conversations with trusted home health care providers. Having ACP conversation is associated with significant reduction in seeking urgent health care and in hospitalizations.
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    Religion and Spirituality in Surrogate Decision Making for Hospitalized Older Adults
    (Springer, 2016-06) Geros-Willfond, Kristin N.; Ivy, Steven S.; Montz, Kianna; Bohan, Sara E.; Torke, Alexia M.; Department of Medicine, School of Medicine
    We conducted semi-structured interviews with 46 surrogate decision makers for hospitalized older adults to characterize the role of spirituality and religion in decision making. Three themes emerged: (1) religion as a guide to decision making, (2) control, and (3) faith, death and dying. For religious surrogates, religion played a central role in end of life decisions. There was variability regarding whether God or humans were perceived to be in control; however, beliefs about control led to varying perspectives on acceptance of comfort-focused treatment. We conclude that clinicians should attend to religious considerations due to their impact on decision making.