Table 1.

Summary of selected studies

Study	Country	Aim	Qualitative methodology	Setting	Participants
Hirschman	USA	Identify the factors that facilitate	Semi-structured	1 Alzheimer	30 family members of older
et al,15 2008		or hinder advance planning by persons with dementia	interviews	disease center and 1 long-term care facility	people (aged 55–96) with advanced dementia (MMSE <12)
Malcomson and Bisbee,16 2009	USA	Explore the perspective of healthy elders on ACP	Focus groups	1 community center and 2 assisted living facilities	20 elders (aged 60–94)
Jeong et al,17 2011	Australia	Explore ACP and advance care directives in residential care settings	Semi-structured interviews	3 residential facilities	3 older residents (age range not reported) and 11 family members
Stewart et al,18 2011	UK	Explore views on ACP in care homes for older people	Semi-structured interviews	2 care homes for older people	15 family members or friends of older residents (age range not reported)
Piers et al,19 2013	Belgium	Gaining insights into the view of elderly on ACP	Semi-structured interviews	Different geriatric settingsa	38 elders (aged 71–104) representing three different end- stage trajectories (21 malignancy, 17 frailty or organ failure)
Stone et al,20 2013	UK	Explore the experiences of staff, residents, and families in initiating and undertaking ACP discussion	Semi-structured interviews	3 nursing homes	11 older residents (age range not reported) and 5 family members
van Eechoud et al,21 2014	Belgium	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	Semi-structured interviews	Different geriatric settingsa	21 family members of elders aged 70 years or older (they were family members of the participants to the study by Piers et al19)
Bollig et al,22,b 2016	Norway	Study the views of cognitively able residents and relatives on ACP, end-of-life care, and decision-making in nursing homes	Semi-structured interviews with the residents, and focus groups with the family members	9 nursing homes	25 residents (aged 66–100) and 18 family members
Gjerberg et al,23 2015	Norway	Explore nursing home patients’ and next-of-kin experiences with and perspectives on end-of-life care conversations, information, and shared decision-making	Semi-structured interviews with the residents and focus groups with the family members	6 nursing homes	38 residents (aged 68–98) and 33 family members

Notes:

^aThree nursing homes, an acute geriatric ward, a medical oncology ward, a palliative care unit, and home services for older people.

^bPublished ahead of print in Sept 2015.

Abbreviations: ACP, advance care planning; MMSE, mini–mental state examination.