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Having a family member hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) can be a stressful experience for family members, encompassing both psychological and spiritual distress. With over 5 million ICU admissions annually in the United States, it is imperative to enhance the experiences and coping mechanisms of ICU family members. In particularly challenging situations, some family members even face psychological effects known as post-intensive care syndrome-family, which includes anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress. The distress may be worsened when patients and families experience poor communication or medical care, which has been shown to be more common among minoritized populations including Black and Hispanic patients and families. Family members' emotional and spiritual distress also has an effect on the medical decisions they make for the patient. While research has delved into the impact of spiritual care for ICU family members, further investigation is still needed to determine the most effective approaches for delivering such care. This narrative review will describe a conceptual model aimed at guiding future research in this endeavor. The model proposes that chaplains provide emotional, spiritual, and information support to ICU family members. This affects both their ICU experience, decision making, and outcomes for the patient and family. This process is also affected by characteristics of the family such as race, ethnicity, and economic status. This model helps identify gaps in research, including the need for randomized trials of spiritual care that identify mechanisms underlying outcomes and demonstrate impact of spiritual care, and consider race, ethnicity, and other characteristics.

Context: Communication quality in the hospital impacts outcomes like satisfaction, depression, and anxiety for families, and assessment tools must be efficient and reliable., Objectives: We developed the Quick FICS-5 and -10, shorter versions of the 30-item Family Inpatient Communication Survey (FICS)., Methods: The Quick FICS were developed from the original FICS study of hospitalized patients 65+ and their surrogates. The development sample came from the original FICS-30 scale. The validation sample came from a randomized controlled trial of surrogates for adult ICU patients. Participants were family members of patients on medical ICU or inpatient medicine services at three hospitals in a Midwest metropolitan area. We evaluated validity and reliability using factor analysis, internal consistency, and associations with surrogate psychological and decision-making outcomes., Results: In the development sample of 364 patient/surrogate dyads, most surrogates were adult children (66.8%), female (70.9%), and white (68.9%). We identified 5-item and 10-item surveys. Exploratory factor analysis supported an overall communication score for the FICS-5 and FICS-10, as well as information and emotional support subscales for the FICS-10. There was high internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha was 0.83 for the FICS-5 and 0.90 for the FICS-10; information and emotional support subscales were 0.89 and 0.75 respectively). There was good predictive validity when comparing FICS scores to outcomes six to eight weeks after discharge, including anxiety (P = -0.13; P = 0.0234), and satisfaction with the hospital stay (P = 0.48; P < 0.0001). Similarly, the validation sample (n = 188) revealed Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.81 to 0.93 and significant correlations (P < 0.05) with concurrent distress, anxiety, depression, and decision regret., Conclusions: The Quick FICS offers efficient, valid, and reliable evaluation of communication quality in the hospital that can be useful for research and quality improvement., (Copyright © 2023 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The goal of this paper is to develop a more thorough understanding of the experiences of LGBT older adults living with dementia and their caregivers., Methods: A phenomenological approach using in-depth interviews with current or former caregivers of LGBT persons living with Alzheimer's disease (AD) was conducted., Results: Participants ranged in age from 44-77 years old; 74% were lesbian, 16% gay, 5% straight, and 5% unknown. Five themes were identified from the analysis: Caregiver tension and isolation; financial stress & security; lack of social support & connection; engineering grief support, and entrapment of past and present stigma and discrimination., Conclusions: Discrimination related to LGBT status was an important theme over the participants' lives and occurred for several during dementia care. While other themes were similar to prior AD studies, LGBT status affected these other aspects of the caregiving experience. Findings can inform future programs that better meet needs of LGBT people and those who care for them., (© 2023. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

Context: Critical illness of a family member is associated with high emotional and spiritual distress and difficult medical decisions., Objectives: To determine if a semistructured spiritual care intervention improves the well-being of family surrogate decision makers in intensive care (ICU) settings., Methods: This study is a randomized, allocation-concealed, parallel group, usual care-controlled, single-blind trial of patient/surrogate dyads in five ICUs in one Midwest, academic medical center. Patients were 18 and older admitted to the ICU and unable to make medical decisions. The intervention involved proactive contact from the chaplain, scheduled, semi-structured visits, weekly follow-up, and bereavement calls. The control group received usual care. The primary endpoint was the surrogate's anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorders-7 scale), six to eight weeks after discharge., Results: Of 192 patient/surrogate dyads enrolled, 128 completed outcome assessments. At follow-up, anxiety in the intervention group was lower than control (median score 1 (interquartile range 0,6) vs. 4 (1,9), P = 0.0057). The proportion of patients with a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in anxiety of 2+ was 65.2% in the intervention group vs. 49.2% in control. The odds of an MCID remained higher in adjusted analysis (Odds Ratio 3.11, 95% confidence interval 1.18, 8.21; P = 0.0218) The adjusted odds of an MCID were higher for spiritual well-being (OR 3.79, CI 1.41,10.17; P = 0.0081). Satisfaction with spiritual care was also higher (adjusted mean 3.5 ± 0.4 vs. 2.9 ± 0.1); P < .0001)., Conclusions: Proactive, semistructured spiritual care delivered by chaplains improves well-being for ICU surrogates. Results provide evidence for inclusion of chaplains in palliative and intensive care teams., (Copyright © 2022 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective. First-year pharmacy students at two institutions were required to complete a virtual over-the-counter (OTC) simulation during their community pharmacy practice skills laboratory course. The simulation was designed to introduce first-year pharmacy students to OTC product selection and consultation prior to didactic coursework and community introductory pharmacy practice experiences. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the OTC simulation on students' knowledge and confidence of OTC medications and overall perceptions of the activity. Methods. Patient simulation cases in the virtual community pharmacy setting were developed and delivered to students using the MyDispense platform. Students concurrently completed a Google Form that provided directions for the virtual activity, including a combination of didactic and active learning strategies within the online platform. Student surveys assessed knowledge and confidence before and after the activity, with perceptions added to the postsurvey. Results. Total knowledge scores for the 142 students from two institutions who completed both the pre- and postsurvey significantly improved and, when assessed individually, improved for seven out of 10 individual knowledge questions. All five confidence statements significantly increased after students completed the OTC simulation. Student perceptions were overall very positive. Conclusion. Introduction of OTC counseling processes to first-year pharmacy students through a virtual pharmacy simulation resulted in increased student knowledge and confidence in providing OTC recommendations. Students perceived the activity favorably., (© 2023 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.)

Background: In-hospital resuscitation events have complex and enduring effects on clinicians, with implications for job satisfaction, performance, and burnout. Ethically ambiguous cases are associated with increased moral distress. We aim to quantitatively describe the multidisciplinary resuscitation experience., Methods: Multidisciplinary in-hospital healthcare professionals at an adult academic health center in the Midwestern United States completed surveys one and six weeks after a resuscitation event. Surveys included demographic data, task load (NASA-TLX), overall and moral distress, anxiety, depression, and spiritual peace. Spearman's rank correlation was computed to assess task load and distress., Results: During the 5-month study period, the study included 12 resuscitation events across six inpatient units. Of 82 in-hospital healthcare professionals eligible for recruitment, 44 (53.7%) completed the one-week post-resuscitation event survey. Of those, 37 (84.1%) completed the six-week survey. Highest median task load burden at one week was seen for temporal demand, effort, and mental demand. Median moral distress scores were low, while "at peace" median scores tended to be high. There were no significant non-zero changes in task load or distress scores from weeks 1-6. Mental demand ( r  = 0.545, p  < 0.001), physical demand ( r  = 0.464, p  = 0.005), performance ( r  = -0.539, p  < 0.001), and frustration ( r  = 0.545, p  < 0.001) significantly correlated with overall distress. Performance ( r  = -0.371, p  = 0.028) and frustration ( r  = 0.480, p  = 0.004) also significantly correlated with moral distress., Conclusions: In-hospital healthcare professionals' experiences of resuscitation events are varied and complex. Aspects of task load burden including mental and physical demand, performance, and frustration contribute to overall and moral distress, deserving greater attention in clinical contexts., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

Purpose: Previous studies have shown that black patients are more likely to prefer life-sustaining treatments such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation at end-of-life (EOL) compared to non-Hispanic white patients. Given prior racial disparities in health care, distrust has been proposed to explain these preferences. As many hospitalized older adults require surrogates to make medical decisions, we explored surrogates' code status preferences and the role of trust in these decisions., Methods: We conducted secondary analyses of an observational study of patient/surrogate dyads admitted to three hospitals in a Midwest metropolitan area. Distrust was assessed using the Revised Health Care System Distrust Scale. A single item asked the surrogate which code status they thought was best for the patient, full code or do not resuscitate., Results: We enrolled 350 patient/surrogate dyads (101 black; 249 white). In bivariate analysis, higher proportion of black surrogates preferred full code (62.4% vs. 38.3%, p =0.0001). After adjusting for trust and sociodemographic and psychological covariates, race was still significantly associated with preference for full code (adjusted odds ratio=2.13; 95% confidence interval: 1.16-3.92; p =0.0153). Surrogate race was not associated with distrust in bivariate or multivariable analysis, adjusting for sociodemographic and psychological covariates ( p =0.3049)., Conclusion: Although black race was associated with preferences for full code status, we observed no association between race and distrust. Differences in code status preference may be due to other factors related to race and culture. To ensure that patients are receiving EOL care that is consistent with their values, more work is needed to understand the cultural complexities behind EOL care preferences., Competing Interests: No competing financial interests exist., (© Sang Yoon Na et al., 2022; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.)

Background: Although religion and spirituality are important to adults with cancer and their family caregivers, few studies have tested spiritual care interventions in the outpatient setting., Aim: To determine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of chaplain-delivered, semi-structured spiritual care to adult outpatients with advanced cancer and their caregivers., Design: In this pre/post pilot intervention study, board-certified chaplains utilized the Spiritual Care Assessment and Intervention (SCAI) framework during 4 individual sessions. Surveys at baseline and at 1, 6, and 12 weeks post-intervention assessed spiritual well-being, quality of life, depression, anxiety, and religious coping., Setting/participants: We enrolled U.S. adult outpatients with or without an eligible family caregiver. Eligible patients were at least 18 years old and at least 2 weeks post-diagnosis of incurable and advanced-stage lung or gastrointestinal (GI) cancer., Results: Of 82 eligible patients, 24 enrolled (29.3%); of 22 eligible caregivers, 18 enrolled (81.8%). Four planned chaplain visits were completed by 87.5% of patients and 77.8% of caregivers. All enrolled participants completed baseline surveys, and more than 75% completed follow-up surveys at 2 of 3 time points. More than 80% of patients and caregivers reported they would recommend the sessions to a friend or family member. Patients' spiritual well-being improved significantly at all timepoints compared to baseline: 1-week post (p < .006), 6-weeks post (p < .001), and 12-weeks post (p < .004)., Conclusions: Spiritual care through SCAI is feasible, acceptable, and shows promise in improving spiritual well-being and other important outcomes in advanced-stage cancer patients and family caregivers. Further investigation is warranted.

Importance: An important aspect of high-quality care is ensuring that treatments are in alignment with patient or surrogate decision-maker goals. Treatment discordant with patient goals has been shown to increase medical costs and prolong end-of-life difficulties., Objectives: To evaluate discordance between surrogate decision-maker goals of care and medical orders and treatments provided to hospitalized, incapacitated older patients., Design, Setting, and Participants: This prospective cohort study included 363 patient-surrogate dyads. Patients were 65 years or older and faced at least 1 major medical decision in the medical and medical intensive care unit services in 3 tertiary care hospitals in an urban Midwestern area. Data were collected from April 27, 2012, through July 10, 2015, and analyzed from October 5, 2018, to December 5, 2019., Main Outcomes and Measures: Each surrogate's preferred goal of care was determined via interview during initial hospitalization and 6 to 8 weeks after discharge. Surrogates were asked to select the goal of care for the patient from 3 options: comfort-focused care, life-sustaining treatment, or an intermediate option. To assess discordance, the preferred goal of care as determined by the surrogate was compared with data from medical record review outlining the medical treatment received during the target hospitalization., Results: A total of 363 dyads consisting of patients (223 women [61.4%]; mean [SD] age, 81.8 [8.3] years) and their surrogates (257 women [70.8%]; mean [SD] age, 58.3 [11.2] years) were included in the analysis. One hundred sixty-nine patients (46.6%) received at least 1 medical treatment discordant from their surrogate's identified goals of care. The most common type of discordance involved full-code orders for patients with a goal of comfort (n = 41) or an intermediate option (n = 93). More frequent in-person contact between surrogate and patient (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.43; 95% CI, 0.23-0.82), patient residence in an institution (AOR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.23-0.82), and surrogate-rated quality of communication (AOR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-0.99) were associated with lower discordance. Surrogate marital status (AOR for single vs married, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.01-3.66), number of family members involved in decisions (AOR for ≥2 vs 0-1, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.05-3.21), and religious affiliation (AOR for none vs any, 4.87; 95% CI, 1.12-21.09) were associated with higher discordance., Conclusions and Relevance: This study found that discordance between surrogate goals of care and medical treatments for hospitalized, incapacitated patients was common. Communication quality is a modifiable factor associated with discordance that may be an avenue for future interventions.

Objective: The objective of this pilot project was to evaluate a model of care that consisted of a community pharmacist and registered nurse collaborating in a primary care clinic to improve guideline-directed therapy., Setting: A regional grocery chain pharmacy partnered with a primary care clinic associated with a large academic medical center., Practice Innovation: A community pharmacist was granted access to the electronic medical record and paired with a registered nurse care manager at a primary care office., Evaluation: Forty-one patients were included and assessed for diabetes guidelines directed care. The pharmacist completed chart reviews and sent recommendations to a registered nurse care manager and the patient's primary care provider. The nurse facilitated lab orders, discussed the pharmacist's recommendations, and scheduled appointments as necessary for the patient., Results: This intervention resulted in initial improvement in glycemic control followed by a decline at 3 months. Surrogate markers for prevention of micro- and macrovascular complications improved at 3 months. Optimization of medications for glycemic control and complication prevention also improved., Conclusion: The collaboration between a community pharmacist and primary care clinic led to improved adherence to guideline-directed diabetes care. Access to electronic medical records was necessary for pharmacist recommendations and communication. Pharmacist involvement in clinical recommendations at a primary care clinic in addition to standard duties at a community pharmacy may further improve care for patients with diabetes and requires further evaluation., (Copyright © 2020 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: When working with surrogate decision-makers, physicians often encounter ethical challenges that may cause moral distress which can have negative consequences for physicians., Objective: To determine frequency of and factors associated with physicians' moral distress caring for patients requiring a surrogate., Design: Prospective survey., Participants: Physicians (n = 154) caring for patients aged 65 years and older and their surrogate decision-makers (n = 362 patient/surrogate dyads). Patients were admitted to medicine or medical intensive care services, lacked decisional capacity and had an identified surrogate., Main Measures: Moral distress thermometer., Key Results: Physicians experienced moral distress in the care of 152 of 362 patients (42.0%). In analyses adjusted for physician, patient, and surrogate characteristics, physician/surrogate discordance in preferences for the plan of care was not significantly associated with moral distress. Physicians were more likely to experience moral distress when caring for older patients (1.06, 1.02-1.10), and facing a decision about life-sustaining treatment (3.58, 1.54-8.32). Physicians were less likely to experience moral distress when caring for patients residing in a nursing home (0.40, 0.23-0.69), patients who previously discussed care preferences (0.56, 0.35-0.90), and higher surrogate ratings of emotional support from clinicians (0.94, 0.89-0.99). Physicians' internal discordance when they prefer a more comfort-focused plan than the patient is receiving was associated with significantly higher moral distress (2.22, 1.33-3.70) after adjusting for patient, surrogate, and physician characteristics., Conclusions: Physician moral distress occurs more frequently when the physician is male, the patient is older or requires decisions about life-sustaining treatments. These findings may help target interventions to support physicians. Prior discussions about patient wishes is associated with lower distress and may be a target for patient-centered interventions.

Context: Although religion and spirituality are important to surrogate decision makers, little is known about the role of religion in decision making regarding life-sustaining treatments., Objectives: To determine the relationships between dimensions of religion and spirituality and medical treatment decisions made by surrogates., Methods: This prospective observational study enrolled patient/surrogate dyads from three hospitals in one metropolitan area. Eligible patients were 65 years or older and admitted to the medicine or medical intensive care services. Baseline surveys between hospital days 2 and 10 assessed seven dimensions of religion and spirituality. Chart reviews of the electronic medical record and regional health information exchange six months after enrollment identified the use of life-sustaining treatments and hospice for patients who died., Results: There were 291 patient/surrogate dyads. When adjusting for other religious dimensions, demographic, and illness factors, only surrogates' belief in miracles was significantly associated with a lower surrogate preference for do-not-resuscitate status (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.39; 95% CI 0.19, 0.78). Among patients who died, higher surrogate intrinsic religiosity was associated with lower patient receipt of life-sustaining treatments within the last 30 days (aOR 0.66; 95% CI 0.45, 0.97). Belief in miracles (aOR 0.30; 95% CI 0.10, 0.96) and higher intrinsic religiosity (aOR 0.70; 95% CI 0.53, 0.93) were associated with lower hospice utilization., Conclusion: Few religious variables are associated with end-of-life preferences or treatment. Belief in miracles and intrinsic religiosity may affect treatment and should be identified and explored with surrogates by trained chaplains or other clinicians with appropriate training., (Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), family members experience psychological and spiritual distress as they cope with fear, grief, and medical decisions for patients. The study team developed and pilot tested a semistructured chaplain intervention that included proactive contact and spiritual assessment, interventions, and documentation. An interdisciplinary team developed the intervention, the Spiritual Care Assessment and Intervention (SCAI) Framework. Three chaplains delivered the intervention to surrogates in two ICUs. There were 25 of 73 eligible patient/surrogate dyads enrolled. Surrogates had a mean age of 57.6, were 84% female and 32% African American. The majority (84%) were Protestant. All received at least one chaplain visit and 19 received three visits. All agreed they felt supported by the chaplains, and qualitative comments showed spiritual and emotional support were valued. A semistructured spiritual care intervention for ICU surrogates is feasible and acceptable. Future work is needed to demonstrate the intervention improves outcomes for surrogates and patients.

Introduction: Many cancer patients require radiation therapy and often experience adverse effects including erythema, itching, and pain. Aloe vera has been studied for its potential use in the prevention and treatment of radiation related adverse effects as it possesses a variety of properties and is considered an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. Multiple controlled trials have been performed in order to evaluate the efficacy of aloe vera for the prevention and treatment of radiation side effects. Previous systematic reviews have examined the use of aloe vera for radiation-induced skin reactions, however updated literature now includes the use of aloe vera in proctitis., Objectives: The aim of this comprehensive review is to summarize and evaluate the use of aloe vera in patients who have undergone radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer., Results: Aloe vera may not be effective for prophylaxis or treatment of radiation adverse effects in breast cancer patients. Moderate efficacy was seen when aloe vera was used in combination with mild soap versus soap as monotherapy for the treatment of radiation skin reactions. Aloe vera may be effective when cumulative radiation doses are greater than 2,700 cGy and for acute radiation proctitis., Conclusions: There is contradictory evidence for the use of aloe vera in the setting of radiation in regards to its efficacy in the prevention and treatment of radiation-induced adverse effects., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Many hospitalized older adults require family surrogates to make decisions, but surrogates may perceive that the quality of medical decisions is low and may have poor psychological outcomes after the patient's hospitalization., Objective: To determine the relationship between communication quality and high-quality medical decisions, psychological well-being, and satisfaction for surrogates of hospitalized older adults., Design: Observational study at three hospitals in a Midwest metropolitan area., Participants: Hospitalized older adults (65+ years) admitted to medicine and medical intensive care units who were unable to make medical decisions, and their family surrogates. Among 799 eligible dyads, 364 (45.6%) completed the study., Main Measures: Communication was assessed during hospitalization using the information and emotional support subscales of the Family Inpatient Communication Survey. Decision quality was assessed with the Decisional Conflict Scale. Outcomes assessed at baseline and 4-6 weeks post-discharge included anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), post-traumatic stress (Impact of Event Scale-Revised), and satisfaction (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems)., Key Results: The mean patient age was 81.9 years (SD 8.32); 62% were women, and 28% African American. Among surrogates, 67% were adult children. Six to eight weeks post-discharge, 22.6% of surrogates reported anxiety (11.3% moderate-severe anxiety); 29% reported depression, (14.0% moderate-severe), and 14.6% had high levels of post-traumatic stress. Emotional support was associated with lower odds of anxiety (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.65, 95% CI 0.50, 0.85) and depression (AOR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.65, 0.99) at follow-up. In multivariable linear regression, emotional support was associated with lower post-traumatic stress (β = -0.30, p = 0.003) and higher decision quality (β = -0.44, p < 0.0001). Information was associated with higher post-traumatic stress (β = 0.23, p = 0.022) but also higher satisfaction (β = 0.61, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Emotional support of hospital surrogates is consistently associated with better psychological outcomes and decision quality, suggesting an opportunity to improve decision making and well-being.

Background: Many hospitalized adults do not have the capacity to make their own health care decisions and thus require a surrogate decision-maker. While the ethical standard suggests that decisions should focus on a patient's preferences, our study explores the principles that surrogates consider most important when making decisions for older hospitalized patients., Objectives: We sought to determine how frequently surrogate decision-makers prioritized patient preferences in decision-making and what factors may predict their doing so., Design and Participants: We performed a secondary data analysis of a study conducted at three local hospitals that surveyed surrogate decision-makers for hospitalized patients 65 years of age and older., Main Measures: Surrogates rated the importance of 16 decision-making principles and selected the one that was most important. We divided the surrogates into two groups: those who prioritized patient preferences and those who prioritized patient well-being. We analyzed the two groups for differences in knowledge of patient preferences, presence of advance directives, and psychological outcomes., Key Results: A total of 362 surrogates rated an average of six principles as being extremely important in decision-making; 77.8% of surrogates selected a patient well-being principle as the most important, whereas only 21.1% selected a patient preferences principle. Advance directives were more common to the patient preferences group than the patient well-being group (61.3% vs. 44.9%; 95% CI: 1.01-3.18; p = 0.04), whereas having conversations with the patient about their health care preferences was not a significant predictor of surrogate group identity (81.3% vs. 67.4%; 95% CI: 0.39-1.14; p = 0.14). We found no differences between the two groups regarding surrogate anxiety, depression, or decisional conflict., Conclusions: While surrogates considered many factors, they focused more often on patient well-being than on patient preferences, in contravention of our current ethical framework. Surrogates more commonly prioritized patient preferences if they had advance directives available to them.

The 2016-2017 AACP Professional Affairs Committee (PAC) was charged to examine strategies to include adjunct/affiliate preceptors as AACP members and to determine the value proposition of AACP membership for this group of educators. The PAC defined adjunct/affiliate preceptors as preceptors who are neither full-time employees nor have a primary employment commitment (≥50% of the preceptor's work salary) at a school/college of pharmacy. Specific charges to the PAC included: recommend an approach to increase the number of adjunct/affiliate preceptors as AACP members, examine AACP membership from an adjunct/affiliate preceptor value perspective, and prepare a concise summary of available literature describing value-added contributions of student pharmacists and pharmacy preceptors to pharmacy practice models, interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional practice (IPP). The summary of the plan developed by the PAC to address the charges is presented in the following report, which includes three sections: the value proposition of AACP membership for adjunct/affiliate preceptors, expansion of the presence of adjunct/affiliate preceptors in AACP, and the value of student pharmacists in experiential education settings. The value proposition of AACP membership for adjunct/affiliate preceptors section describes results of surveys and focus groups conducted by the PAC. The PAC surveyed experiential education directors at schools/colleges of pharmacy, adjunct/affiliate preceptors (from a request via the experiential education directors), and new pharmacy practice faculty members in order to determine current resources available for adjunct/affiliate preceptor development, as well as explore potential resources AACP could provide for adjunct/affiliate preceptor development. Focus groups were held with adjunct/affiliate preceptors and experiential education faculty/staff to explore some of the results and concepts generated from the surveys. The PAC developed three recommendations for AACP as a result of the surveys and focus groups. The report also describes various factors that should be considered by AACP in developing a membership category for adjunct/affiliate preceptors, including potential membership models, establishment of an advisory board, and collaboration with other stakeholder groups. The final section of the report provides an executive summary and detailed table, which summarizes available literature on the value of student pharmacists in experiential education. The brief literature review reinforces that there are many different practice settings where student pharmacists add value to patient care and the practice site. This information is significant for experiential education faculty/staff, as well as adjunct/affiliate preceptors, and serves as an example of best practices which document the value experiential education provides to patient care and practice sites. The final section of the report provides a policy statement that was adopted by the 2017 AACP House of Delegates and one suggestion to schools/colleges of pharmacy. The report concludes with a call to action regarding the formal involvement of adjunct/affiliate preceptors by AACP and the academy.

Context: Although many family members who make surrogate decisions report problems with communication, there is no validated instrument to accurately measure surrogate/clinician communication for older adults in the acute hospital setting., Objectives: The objective of this study was to validate a survey of surrogate-rated communication quality in the hospital that would be useful to clinicians, researchers, and health systems., Methods: After expert review and cognitive interviewing (n = 10 surrogates), we enrolled 350 surrogates (250 development sample and 100 validation sample) of hospitalized adults aged 65 years and older from three hospitals in one metropolitan area. The communication survey and a measure of decision quality were administered within hospital days 3 and 10. Mental health and satisfaction measures were administered six to eight weeks later., Results: Factor analysis showed support for both one-factor (Total Communication) and two-factor models (Information and Emotional Support). Item reduction led to a final 30-item scale. For the validation sample, internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.96 (total), 0.94 (Information), and 0.90 (Emotional Support). Confirmatory factor analysis fit statistics were adequate (one-factor model, comparative fit index = 0.981, root mean square error of approximation = 0.62, weighted root mean square residual = 1.011; two-factor model comparative fit index = 0.984, root mean square error of approximation = 0.055, weighted root mean square residual = 0.930). Total score and subscales showed significant associations with the Decision Conflict Scale (Pearson correlation -0.43, P < 0.001 for total score). Emotional Support was associated with improved mental health outcomes at six to eight weeks, such as anxiety (-0.19 P < 0.001), and Information was associated with satisfaction with the hospital stay (0.49, P < 0.001)., Conclusion: The survey shows high reliability and validity in measuring communication experiences for hospital surrogates. The scale has promise for measurement of communication quality and is predictive of important outcomes, such as surrogate satisfaction and well-being., (Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Communication problems between family surrogates and intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians have been documented, but few interventions are effective. Nurses have the potential to play an expanded role in ICU communication and decision making., Objectives: To conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial of the family navigator (FN), a distinct nursing role to address family members' unmet communication needs early in an ICU stay., Methods: An interprofessional team developed the FN protocol. A randomized controlled pilot intervention trial of the FN was performed in a tertiary referral hospital's ICU to test the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. The intervention addressed informational and emotional communication needs through daily contact by using structured clinical updates, emotional and informational support modules, family meeting support, and follow-up phone calls., Results: Twenty-six surrogate/patient pairs (13 per study arm) were enrolled. Surrogates randomized to the intervention had contact with the FN on 90% or more of eligible patient days. All surrogates agreed that they would recom mend the FN to other families. Open-ended comments from both surrogates and clinicians were uniformly positive., Conclusions: Having a fully integrated nurse empowered to facilitate decision making is a feasible intervention in an ICU and is well-received by ICU families and staff. A larger randomized controlled trial is needed to demonstrate impact on important outcomes, such as surrogates' well-being and decision quality., (©2016 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.)