Perspectives of family members on planning end-of-life care for terminally ill and frail older people.

Context: Advance care planning (ACP) is the process by which patients, together with their physician and loved ones, establish preferences for future care. Because previous research has shown that relatives play a considerable role in end-of-life care decisions, it is important to understand how family members are involved in this process.

Objectives: To gain understanding of the involvement of family members in ACP for older people near the end of life by exploring their views and experiences concerning this process.

Aged parents' experiences during a critical illness trajectory and after the death of an adult child: a review of the literature.

Background: Given the growing life expectancy, the likelihood increases that health-care providers are confronted with older people having an adult child with a life-limiting disease.

Aim: This literature review aimed to (1) explore the experiences of aged parents with regard to their position and role as a parent of an adult child with a life-limiting illness, (2) detect gaps in the existing literature and (3) make recommendations for future research.

Design: A literature search of English articles, including both quantitative and qualitative designs.

Advance Care Planning in terminally ill and frail older persons.

Objective: Advance Care Planning (ACP) - the communication process by which patients establish goals and preferences for future care - is encouraged to improve the quality of end-of-life care. Gaining insight into the views of elderly on ACP was the aim of this study, as most studies concern younger patients.

Methods: We conducted and analysed 38 semi-structured interviews in elderly patients with limited prognosis.