Advance care planning among older adults in Belgium with Turkish backgrounds and palliative care needs: A qualitative interview study

AbstractBackground Data on advance care planning (ACP) among migrants in Europe is lacking. Research has shown that few older migrants in the United States perform ACP due to healthcare system distrust, collectivistic values and spirituality/religion.Objectives To explore the ACP knowledge and perspectives of older Turkish-origin adults in Belgium requiring palliative care.Method General practitioners (GPs) in Brussels and Antwerp recruited Turkish-origin participants aged ≥ 65 years with palliative care eligibility for this qualitative study. A GP conducted semi-structured interviews in Turki... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Hakki Demirkapu
Lieve Van den Block
Stéphanie De Maesschalck
Aline De Vleminck
F. Zehra Colak
Dirk Devroey
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2023
Reihe/Periodikum: European Journal of General Practice, Vol 29, Iss 1 (2023)
Verlag/Hrsg.: Taylor & Francis Group
Schlagwörter: Advance care planning / end-of-life care / older adult / migrant / qualitative study / Medicine (General) / R5-920
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28563840
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.1080/13814788.2023.2271661

AbstractBackground Data on advance care planning (ACP) among migrants in Europe is lacking. Research has shown that few older migrants in the United States perform ACP due to healthcare system distrust, collectivistic values and spirituality/religion.Objectives To explore the ACP knowledge and perspectives of older Turkish-origin adults in Belgium requiring palliative care.Method General practitioners (GPs) in Brussels and Antwerp recruited Turkish-origin participants aged ≥ 65 years with palliative care eligibility for this qualitative study. A GP conducted semi-structured interviews in Turkish in respondents’ homes between May 2019 and February 2022 using a topic guide. Two researchers performed combined inductive/deductive thematic data analysis.Results All 15 interviewees (average age, 79 years) lacked ACP awareness and information. Some had discussed specific end-of-life preferences (e.g. care location, burial place) with family. Still, many did not feel the need to discuss future healthcare preferences, due mainly to trust in God and family for caretaking and decision-making. Some respondents viewed ACP discussions as applicable, relieving the burden on family and enabling proactive addressing of ‘what if’ questions. Self-identified ACP barriers were fear of making wrong decisions, ‘living in the moment’ and difficulty discussing death. Facilitators were obtaining sufficient ACP information and recent family illness or death.Conclusion Our sample of Turkish-origin older adults in Belgium requiring palliative care lacked ACP knowledge. Our findings suggest that their lack of engagement in discussing end-of-life medical care planning was linked to their family dynamics and religion. The findings have implications for healthcare providers to ethnic-minority groups.