1. Extending Advance Care Planning to Black Americans in the Community: A Pilot Study of the PREPARE Program
- Author
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Skolarus, Lesli E, Brown, Devin L, Corches, Casey L, Reynolds, Evan, Bailey, Sarah, Mansour, Maria, Robles, Maria Cielito, Rice, Tia, Springer, Mellanie V, Burke, James F, and Sudore, Rebecca L
- Subjects
Health Services and Systems ,Public Health ,Health Sciences ,Clinical Research ,Generic health relevance ,Good Health and Well Being ,Advance Care Planning ,Black or African American ,Female ,Health Promotion ,Humans ,Middle Aged ,Pilot Projects ,Advance care planning ,community based participatory research ,black Americans ,Medical and Health Sciences ,Anesthesiology ,Biomedical and clinical sciences ,Health sciences - Abstract
ContextAdvance care planning (ACP) is underutilized, especially among Black Americans. Yet, no ACP interventions have been tested at the community level.ObjectivesWithin an established academic and community partnership, we sought to determine whether ACP is a community-identified need and if so, to conduct a pilot study of an evidence-based ACP program, PREPARE (PrepareForYourCare.org).MethodsWe conducted open discussions and in-depth interviews to determine the relevance of ACP to the community. We then conducted a pre- to 3-week postpilot study of a virtual peer facilitated brief session to introduce ACP and encourage participants to engage with PREPARE. We conducted thematic content analysis for qualitative data and used paired t-tests to assess within-participant changes in the validated ACP Engagement Survey measured on a 1-5 scale (5 = greatest engagement).ResultWe conducted two discussion groups with community leaders (n = 12) and key informant interviews (n = 6), including leaders in aging, public health, health care and faith. We concluded that ACP is a community priority. In the pilot study, we enrolled 13 Black Americans; 85% were women and the mean age was 59.7 years (SD 15.1). There was a trend toward increased ACP engagement after the peer facilitated PREPARE (mean 3.2 (SD 0.6) pre vs. 3.5 (SD 0.6) post, paired t-test P = 0.06). All participants found the intervention to be acceptable and were satisfied with it.ConclusionCommunity members identified ACP as important for their community. Peer facilitated PREPARE program is a promising community-based strategy to increase engagement in ACP and may promote health equity.
- Published
- 2021