Nursing home policies regarding advance care planning in Flanders, Belgium

Background: The aim of this study is to discover how many nursing homes (NHs) in Flanders (Belgium) have policies on advance care planning (ACP) and their content regarding different medical end-of-life decisions. Methods: A structured mail questionnaire was sent to the NH administrators of all 594 NHs in Flanders (Belgium) at the end of 2006. The questionnaire asked about the existence, timing of implementation and content of ACP policy documents (guidelines and patient-specific planning forms), and on NH characteristics related to end-of-life care. Results: The response rate was 58.1%. The d... Mehr ...