Shared Decision Making to Improve Palliative Care in the Nursing Home

Twenty-eight percent of Americans over the age of 65 die in a nursing home. Research has found the quality of care of end-of-life care in nursing homes to have many challenges. It has also been documented that family members, especially those living at a distance, want to be involved in the care of their resident and family support can be beneficial to residents. Family members' involvement in decision-making in the nursing home setting improves outcomes for residents with life-limiting illnesses. Shared decision-making (SDM) is a process wherein a healthcare choice is jointly made by a healthcare provider and a resident or resident's proxy, often a family member. This proposal seeks to facilitate SDM among family members, residents with life-limiting illnesses (who are not enrolled in hospice), and the nursing home care team. The overall research question (RQ) asks: To what extent are outcomes for family member and residents with life limiting illnesses associated with SDM via web-conferencing in the nursing home? The overall hypothesis (H) is that SDM among family members, residents (when possible), and skilled nursing home staff via web-conferencing will improve outcomes for family members and residents with life-limiting illnesses. This is an exploratory mixed methods randomized clinical trial pilot to test the effect of shared decision making using web-based conferencing on the depression and burden of family members and the pain of nursing home residents.