Factors Influencing Decisions on End of Life Care : An Application of Roy's Model

ISBN-13: 9783639128987 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 108 str.

Weihua Zhang

Opis

The U.S. Congress passed the Patient Self-Determination Act guaranteeing the individual s legal right to decide the end-of-life care via the mechanism of completion of Advance Directives in 1990. More than a decade after the Act, the utilization of this legal right has seen no significant change in the general population. The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify the variables that influence the decision-making responses related to Advance Directives (ADs). A path model applying Roy's concepts was developed for the study. The sample consisted of a matched set of 938 participants. The final path model showed that age and gender significantly contributed to the number of hospital and nursing home admissions. The number of hospital and nursing home admission was significantly associated with physical impairment. Physical impairment had the greatest effect on the decision-making responses. Those who were less likely to continue working or do volunteer work were also less likely to complete ADs. The soundness of the final path model was confirmed by the decomposition of the bivariate correlations.

O autorze

I had my undergraduate training in China, and finished my
masters and doctoral study in the U.S. I currently work as a
clinical assistant professor at Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of
Nursing, Emory University at Atlanta, Ga. I am teaching in the
undergraduate nursing program and conducting my research in end
of life care.