Goals of care are important for older adults with severe illness and their families, and are infrequently addressed by health professionals

Patients and families identify goals of care discussions as being essential and include preferences for care at the end-of-life, eliciting patient's values, disclosing prognosis, allowing expression of fears or concerns and questions about goals of care.

Healthcare providers often do not address guideline recommended elements of goals of care discussion, but when undertaken, patient satisfaction can improve.

Future research should examine the benefits of automatic triggers, variations of timing along the disease trajectory and interventions …

Website: http://www.arjonline.org/medicine-and-health-care/american-research-journal-of-nursing/