Table 5:

Barriers and Facilitators to Talking About Care Preferences

Barriers to Talking About Care Preferences	N (%)
I have not felt sick enough to talk with my doctor about end-of-life care	60 (42)
I’m not sure which doctor would be taking care of me if I were to get very sick	42 (29.4)
I would rather concentrate on staying alive than talk about death	42 (29.2)
I’m not sure which doctor would be taking care of me if I were to get very sick	33 (22.8)
My ideas about the kind of medical care I want may change	32 (22.4)
I don’t like to talk about getting very sick	30 (20.8)
I don’t know what kind of care I would want if I were to get very sick	23 (15.9)
My doctor never seems to have the time to talk about issues like end-of-life care	19 (13.3)
I feel that talking about death can bring death closer	13 (9.1)
I have a living will, and that means I don’t need to talk with my doctor about the care I would want if I were too sick to speak for myself	7 (5)
Facilitators for Talking About Care Preferences	N (%)
I worry about the quality of my life in the future	80 (57.6)
I worry that I could be a burden on my friends and family if I were to become very sick	76 (55.1)
I have had family or friends who have died so it is easier to talk about	68 (48.9)
I have been very sick, so it is easier to talk about	59 (42.8)

Bold= identified by participants as the most important factor