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Review
. 2018 May 21:6:2050312118777517.
doi: 10.1177/2050312118777517. eCollection 2018.

End-of-life decision making by family caregivers of persons with advanced dementia: A literature review of decision aids

Bo Xie  1   2 , Amy S Berkley  1 , Jung Kwak  1 , Kenneth R Fleischmann  2 , Jane Dimmitt Champion  1 , Kolina S Koltai  2
Affiliations
Review

End-of-life decision making by family caregivers of persons with advanced dementia: A literature review of decision aids

Bo Xie et al. SAGE Open Med. .

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate existing knowledge in the literature about end-of-life decision making by family caregivers of persons with dementia, focusing on decision aids for caregivers of persons with advanced dementia, and to identify gaps in the literature that can guide future research.

Methods: A literature review through systematic searches in PubMed, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, and PsycINFO was conducted in February 2018; publications with full text in English and published in the past 10 years were selected in multiple steps.

Results: The final sample included five decision aids with predominantly Caucasian participants; three of them had control groups, and three used audiovisual technology in presenting the intervention materials. No other technology was used in any intervention. Existing interventions lacked tailoring of information to caregivers' preferences for different types and amounts of information necessary to make decisions consistent with patients' values.

Conclusion: Research is needed in exploring the use of technology in decision aids that could provide tailored information to facilitate caregivers' decision making. More diverse samples are needed.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s; Dementia; decision aids; end-of-life; family caregivers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Systematic selection process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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