It’s Time to Talk
We’re here to help you have rewarding conversations with your patients about their care goals, preferences, and wishes near the end of life.
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Your Patients Are Ready
VITAS Healthcare commissioned nationwide studies in 2021, 2022, and 2023 that found many Americans are open to talking about their wishes and values for end-of-life care.
The studies of 1,000 U.S. adults found that:
- More than half of people (56%) say they know what kind of medical treatment they do and do not want at end of life. However, only about one in four (22%) say they have formally documented their wishes and values for end-of-life care.
- Only about half of people (49%) know where to find information about documenting their end-of-life wishes and values.
- People feel most comfortable having advance care planning conversations with their partner/spouse. However, clinicians play an important role in advance care planning, especially for communities of color and younger Americans.
- Hispanic (12%) and Asian (14%) Americans prefer to speak with a healthcare specialist (compared to 6% in general).
- Young people (18-34) were most likely to engage in end-of-life care planning if a trusted healthcare professional asked them to, at 32% versus 22% for those ages 35-54 and 18% for those ages 55 and older.
Dr. Illeana Leyva and Dr. Eric Shaban, VITAS regional medical directors, give a step-by-step demonstration of how to approach a goals-of-care conversation.
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