Advance Care Planning: A Way to Improve End-of-life Care Life Care

Communication about end-of-life issues is often suboptimal. A way to improve the quality of end-of-life care is Advance Care Planning (ACP). ACP is a discussion between an incurable ill patient and the health professionals about preferences for end-of-life care. In Denmark, there is no tradition of systematic communication with patients about end-of-life care. The aim is to investigate how ACP can be beneficial among incurable ill patients treated in an outpatient context and if the concept is feasible in a Danish context. The study is designed as a prospective randomised controlled trial. Patients from relevant departments will be included and randomised in two groups: one receiving usual care and the other receiving usual care and ACP. Data will be collected from Electronic Patient Files and from questionnaires. If ACP is effective, it will improve the quality of end-of-life care for patients and their families and reduce the psychological distress in the bereaved relatives.