How widowhood status relates to engagement in advance care planning among older adults: does race/ethnicity matter?

Objectives: This study investigated whether and to what extent widowhood status is related to engagement in advance care planning (ACP), and further whether race/ethnicity moderated the relation.

Methods: We analyzed a total of 11,257 older Americans from the Health and Retirement Study using random-effect regression models after controlling for covariates and year-fixed effects.

Results: We found that both being a widow/widower ever and having been widowed for a longer period of time were associated with a higher probability of engagement in ACP. Specifically, we found that a one-year increase in the number of years since spousal death was associated with 1.02 ( < 0.05, 95% CI = 1.00, 1.03) changes in the odds ratios of informal ACP; however, inclusion of a quadratic term indicated that this association reversed after the peak. Moreover, our findings suggested a moderating effect of race/ethnicity on the relations of the length of time since spousal loss with engagement in ACP. Specifically, the odds of widowed non-Hispanic Blacks discussing with someone the care or medical treatment (informal ACP) and having a living will (formal ACP) were 0.96 ( < 0.05, 95% CI = 0.93, 1.00) and 0.88 ( < 0.05, 95% CI = 0.79, 0.97) times that of non-widowed non-Hispanic Whites. Compared with their non-Hispanic White counterparts, widowed non-Hispanic Blacks were less likely to engage in ACP, and the negative relations were exacerbated when they became widows/widowers.

Conclusion: We elaborated on these findings and discussed their implications for understanding the moderating effect of race/ethnicity on the relation between late-life widowhood and engagement in ACP. In order to develop programs that enhance engagement in ACP and reduce racial/ethnic disparities, research must incorporate intersectionality theory with attention to motivations and decision-making style among diverse widows/widowers. The findings from this study could help inform policy makers when developing public health programs and health care reimbursement programs that enhance engagement in ACP among widows/widowers.