Factors associated with advance care planning discussions by area agency on aging care managers.

Background: Initiating advance care planning (ACP) discussions in the home may prevent avoidable hospitalizations by elucidating goals of care. Area agencies on aging care managers (AAACMs) work in the home with high-risk consumers.

Purpose: To determine which AAACM characteristics contribute to an increased frequency of ACP discussions.

Professional judgments about advance care planning with community-dwelling consumers.

Context: There is limited research on how community-based long-term care (CBLTC) providers' personal characteristics and attitudes affect their decisions to initiate advance care planning (ACP) conversations with consumers.

Objectives: To examine judgments by CBLTC providers as to whether a consumer was in need of ACP and to compare the relative influence of situational features of the consumer with the influence of personal characteristics of the CBLTC provider.

Methods: Factorial surveys with vignettes with randomly assigned situational features of a hypothetical consumer were obtained from 182 CBLTC providers at three Area Agencies on Aging located in the Midwestern U.

Bioterrorism and Emergency Preparedness in Aging (BTEPA): HRSA-funded GEC collaboration for curricula and training.

Frail elders living alone or in long-term care settings are particularly vulnerable to bioterrorism and other emergencies due to their complex physical, social and psychological needs. This paper provides an overview of the recent literature on bioterrorism and emergency preparedness in aging (BTEPA); discusses federal initiatives by the health resources and services administration (HRSA) to address BTEPA; describes the collaborative efforts of six HRSA-funded geriatric education centers (GECS) to develop BTEPA geriatric curricula and training; and offers recommendations for BTEPA education and training, clinical practices, policy, and research. The GEC/BTEPA collaboration has produced model curricula, including emergency planning for diverse groups of older persons; enhanced networking among stakeholders in a fast paced environment of information sharing and changing policies; and developed interdisciplinary educational resources and approaches to address emergency preparedness for various settings in the elder care continuum.