Cognitive abilities and engagement in advance care planning among older adults: Results of a Swiss populational study.

Individuals often wait until the last moment to plan their end-of-life (EOL) care. Yet, decision-making capacity decreases with age, which could compromise engagement in and the effectiveness of advance care planning (ACP). Little is known about the association between cognitive abilities and the steps involved in the multifaceted process of ACP in older adults.

Overestimation of Survival Rates of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Is Associated with Higher Preferences to Be Resuscitated: Evidence from a National Survey of Older Adults in Switzerland.

Background: Many widely used advance directives templates include direct questions on individuals' preferences for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in case of decision-making incapacity during medical emergencies. However, as knowledge of the survival rates of CPR is often limited, individuals' advance decisions on CPR may be poorly aligned with their preferences if false beliefs about the survival rates of CPR shape stated preferences for CPR.

Methods: We analyzed nationally representative data from 1,469 adults aged 58+ y who responded to wave 8 (2019/2020) of the Swiss version of the Survey on Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to assess the partial association between knowledge of CPR survival rates and stated preferences for CPR using multivariable probit regression models that adjust for social, health, and regional characteristics.

Advance Care Planning: A Story of Trust Within the Family.

As the family usually plays a central role at the end of life, the quality of family relationships may influence how individuals approach advance care planning (ACP). Our study investigates the associations of trust in relatives with regard to end-of-life (EOL) issues-used as a proxy measure of family relationship quality-with individuals' engagement in EOL discussions, advance directive (AD) awareness, approval and completion, and designation of a healthcare proxy. Using nationally representative data of adults aged 55 years and over from wave 6 (2015) of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in Switzerland ( = 1911), we show that complete trust in relatives is related to higher engagement in ACP.

Development and validation of a subjective end-of-life health literacy scale.

Personal health literacy is the ability of an individual to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for oneself and others. The end of life is commonly characterized by the occurrence of one or several diseases, the use of many different types of healthcare services, and a need to make complex medical decisions that may involve challenging tradeoffs, such as choices between quality and length of life. Although end-of-life care issues concern most people at some point in life, individuals' competencies to deal with those questions have rarely been explored.

Older adults' medical preferences for the end of life: a cross-sectional population-based survey in Switzerland.

Objectives: Medical decision-making at the end of life is common and should be as patient-centred as possible. Our study investigates older adults' preferences towards three medical treatments that are frequently included in advance directive forms and their association with social, regional and health characteristics.

Setting: A cross-sectional study using population-based data of wave 8 (2019/2020) of the Swiss component of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe.

Health literacy across personality traits among older adults: cross-sectional evidence from Switzerland.

This research aims to better understand the association of personality traits (PT)-Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism-with health literacy (HL) skills of adults aged 58 years and older in a nationally representative sample from Switzerland. Analyses were conducted on a subsample (n = 1546) of respondents living in Switzerland from wave 8 (2019/2020) of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). PT were assessed with the Big-Five inventory ten (BFI-10).

Association between multiple chronic conditions and insufficient health literacy: cross-sectional evidence from a population-based sample of older adults living in Switzerland.

Background: Health literacy is the ability to find, understand, assess, and apply health information. Individuals suffering from multiple chronic conditions have complex healthcare needs that may challenge their health literacy skills. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between multimorbidity, the number of chronic conditions, and health literacy levels in a sample of adults aged 58+ in Switzerland.

Knowledge Gaps in End-of-Life Care and Planning Options Among Older Adults in Switzerland.

Good knowledge about end-of-life (EOL) care options helps in discussing and planning important aspects of the end of life in advance and contributes to improved well-being among dying patients and their families. Our study explores knowledge levels of EOL care and planning options and its sociodemographic and regional patterning using nationally representative data from respondents aged 55+ of wave 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe in Switzerland ( = 2,199). Respondents answered correctly on average to just under four out of eight questions regarding EOL care options.

Dimensions of end-of-life preferences in the Swiss general population aged 55+.

Background: understanding end-of-life preferences in the general population and how they are structured in people's minds is essential to inform how to better shape healthcare services in accordance with population expectations for their end of life and optimise communication on end-of-life care issues.

Objective: explore key dimensions underlying end-of-life preferences in a nationally representative sample of adults aged 55 and over in Switzerland.

Methods: respondents (n = 2,514) to the Swiss version of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe assessed the importance of 23 end-of-life items on a 4-point Likert scale.

Perceptions and Knowledge Regarding Medical Situations at the End of Life among Older Adults in Switzerland.

Perceptions and knowledge regarding end-of-life health and health care can influence individuals' advance care planning, such as the completion and content of advance directives. To assess older adults' perceptions of medical end-of-life situations in Switzerland along with their accuracy and corresponding associations with sociodemographic characteristics. This is an observational study.

Health literacy among older adults in Switzerland: cross-sectional evidence from a nationally representative population-based observational study.

Background And Aim: Despite being widely regarded as a major cause of health inequalities, little is known regarding health literacy and its association with certain personal characteristics among older adults in Switzerland. To fill this gap, this study assesses health literacy and its associations with individuals' social, regional, and health characteristics in a nationally representative sample of adults aged 58 years and older in Switzerland.

Method: We use data of 1,625 respondents from a paper-and-pencil self-completion questionnaire (cooperation rate: 94.

Views on a "Good Death": End-of-Life Preferences and Their Association With Socio-Demographic Characteristics in a Representative Sample of Older Adults in Switzerland.

The current study explores the end-of-life (EOL) preferences of a national representative sample of adults aged 55 and older in Switzerland and shows how these preferences vary by respondents' sociodemographic characteristics and the linguistic region in which they live. Many of the presented EOL attributes are considered as (very) important by a large majority of the older population in Switzerland with significant variations across sociodemographic groups. Specifically, gender is related to psychosocial aspects of EOL, age to the importance attached to avoiding being a burden on the society, and education levels to preferences regarding overtreatment and advance care planning.

Awareness, approval and completion of advance directives in older adults in Switzerland.

Background: Advance directives enable people to describe their preferences for medical treatment (living will) and/or to appoint a healthcare proxy who may decide on their behalf should they lose decision-making capacity. Advance directives are potentially important in determining the course of end-of-life care, as deaths are frequently preceded by end-of-life treatment decisions, which often require someone to make decisions on the patient's behalf. Switzerland introduced legally binding advance directives through its new child and adult protection law of 2013.

Differences in triage category, priority level and hospitalization rate between young-old and old-old patients visiting the emergency department.

Background: Emergency Department (ED) are challenged by the increasing number of visits made by the heterogeneous population of elderly persons. This study aims to 1) compare chief complaints (triage categories) and level of priority; 2) to investigate their association with hospitalization after an ED visit; 3) to explore factors explaining the difference in hospitalization rates among community-dwelling older adults aged 65-84 vs 85+ years.

Methods: All ED visits of patients age 65 and over that occurred between 2005 and 2010 to the University of Lausanne Medical Center were analyzed.

The relevance of clinical ethnography: reflections on 10 years of a cultural consultation service.

Background: Training health professionals in culturally sensitive medical interviewing has been widely promoted as a strategy for improving intercultural communication and for helping clinicians to consider patients' social and cultural contexts and improve patient outcomes. Clinical ethnography encourages clinicians to explore the patient's explanatory model of illness, recourse to traditional and alternative healing practices, healthcare expectations and social context, and to use this information to negotiate a mutually acceptable treatment plan. However, while clinical ethnographic interviewing skills can be successfully taught and learned, the "real-world" context of medical practice may impose barriers to such patient-centered interviewing.

Emergency department use by oldest-old patients from 2005 to 2010 in a Swiss university hospital.

Background: Aging of the population in all western countries will challenge Emergency Departments (ED) as old patients visit these health services more frequently and present with special needs. The aim of this study is to describe the trend in ED visits by patients aged 85 years and over between 2005 and 2010, and to compare their service use to that of patients aged 65-84 years during this period and to investigate the evolution of these comparisons over time.

Methods: Data considered were all ED visits to the University of Lausanne Medical Center (CHUV), a tertiary Swiss teaching hospital, between 2005 and 2010 by patients aged 65 years and over (65+ years).

Overcoming language barriers with foreign-language speaking patients: a survey to investigate intra-hospital variation in attitudes and practices.

Background: Use of available interpreter services by hospital clinical staff is often suboptimal, despite evidence that trained interpreters contribute to quality of care and patient safety. Examination of intra-hospital variations in attitudes and practices regarding interpreter use can contribute to identifying factors that facilitate good practice. The purpose of this study was to describe attitudes, practices and preferences regarding communication with limited French proficiency (LFP) patients, examine how these vary across professions and departments within the hospital, and identify factors associated with good practices.