Does primary care provider advance directive education influence attitudes and practice?

Abstract

Many people do not have advance directives (ADs) prepared and have never discussed their wishes for end-of-life care. Primary care providers (PCP) who have limited knowledge of ADs contribute to this problem. Does PCP AD education influence attitudes and practice? A convenience, non-random, sample of 76 PCPs were asked to participate in a pre-survey, education, and a post-survey descriptive design using the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) as a framework. The majority responded in the contemplation stage with yes, they believe this is their role to assess and educate patients, but have not added this to their practice yet. Perceived barriers are time, knowledge of the laws, and access to the appropriate forms. Future education should focus on overcoming these barriers.