EXPLORING FACILITATORS AND BARRIERS IN ADVANCE CARE PLANNING WITH LATINO LEADERS

Abstract

Latinos are one of the largest minority groups in the United States who suffer from health disparities in end-of-life care. Advance care planning aids individuals, their families, and clinicians with critical decision making in end-of-life situations. Latino adults are the least likely ethnic group to make use of advance care planning, which impacts their quality of life. Advance care planning should be tailored to the individual needs and without planning decisions are left in the hands of the health care system. This project intends to discover ways for Latino leaders to initiate the conversation around advance care planning through focused communication, awareness, and accessibility. This qualitative descriptive study is based on a parent study entitled, Community-based Palliative Care Model for Latinos with Advanced Cancer, that trained Latino palliative care lay advisors in sharing palliative care information with Latino adults with cancer. The research question analyzed was: What facilitates and hinders conversations about advance care planning? We examined the perspectives of Latino leaders who participated in one of six focus groups conducted between 2020 and 2021. We identified three major concepts related to facilitating advance care planning: knowing the social support network, spirituality and religious practices, and end-of-life preferences. A major barrier that was a deterrent to advance care planning was not talking about death and dying until death was imminent. The inclusion of Latino sociocultural values in advance care planning warrants consideration to address end-of-life disparities.