Advance care planning among Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians receiving haemodialysis

Abstract

Aim: To explore the attitudes about death and dying, advance care planning (ACP), and completion of ACP among Asian Americans (AAs) and Native Hawaiians (NHs) receiving haemodialysis. This study was a descriptive, cross-sectional survey design.

Method: A convenience sample of 50 participants aged 30-82 years was recruited from four outpatient dialysis centers in Honolulu, Hawaii and interviewed face-to-face using a 43-item end-of-life community survey. A majority of participants perceived dying as an important part of life and were comfortable talking about death, but expressed concerns and fears about end-of-life issues. Aspects of ACP, such as planning a funeral service, getting finances in order, and completing the will were important. While most participants' attitudes about ACP were positive, less than half (40%) had completed ACP. Most participants preferred initiating end-of-life conversations with family.

Conclusions: The main conclusions drawn from this study are that there is a need for ACP and secondly that AAs and NHs would prefer to discuss ACP with family members rather than health or legal professionals. Findings from this preliminary study build on the need to use a theoretical framework in which to develop sound instruments and effective interventions to promote ACP completion among AAs and NHs receiving haemodialysis.