Family involvement in advance care planning for people living with advanced cancer: A systematic mixed-methods review

Abstract

Background:

Advance care planning is important for people with advanced cancer. Family involvement in advance care planning may be instrumental to achieving goal-concordant care since they frequently become surrogate decision-makers.

Aim:

To examine components, contexts, effects and linkages with intended outcomes of involving family members in advance care planning.

Design:

A mixed-methods systematic review, in which quantitative and qualitative data were extracted and synthesised using thematic synthesis leading to a logic model. Prospectively registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020208143).

Data sources:

Primary quantitative and qualitative research regarding family-involved advance care planning for people with advanced cancer were identified using Medline, Embase, PsycINFO and CINAHL from inception to September 2020. Quality appraisal was performed with ‘QualSyst’.

Results:

Fourteen articles were included. The synthesis identified perceptions of individuals and family members concerning family involvement in advance care planning and presents components for family-integrated advance care planning intervention. The logic model includes (i) addressing family members’ concerns and emotions and (ii) facilitating communication between individuals and family members which are distinctive when healthcare professionals engage with individuals as well as family members.

Conclusions:

This review provides a comprehensive understanding of family involvement in advance care planning and could inform its assessment and implementation in clinical practice. The number of included articles was limited. Therefore future research must focus on family integration and exploration of stakeholders’ perceptions to identify additional components and linkages between them within family-integrated advance care planning.