Experiences of advance care planning for community-dwelling older people: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this qualitative systematic review is to evaluate and synthesize the recent literature on advance care planning (ACP) experiences of community-dwelling older people in interaction with community healthcare professionals. INTRODUCTION The importance of healthcare professionals initiating ACP with their patients and clients has been reported. However, older people who live in the community have fewer opportunities to have discussions regarding ACP with healthcare professionals compared with those who live in other settings. Timely initiation of ACP and sustainable discussion among older people, families, and community healthcare professionals is expected, which may lead to improved palliative and end-of-life care in the community. INCLUSION CRITERIA This review will consider studies that include individuals older than 60 years living in their homes in the community. Studies published in English or Japanese that focus on qualitative data and are published from 1999 to present will be considered. METHODS The key information sources to be searched are: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, JSTORE, Scopus, Japan Medical Abstract Society, CiNii for published papers, and Google Scholar, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, and MedNar for unpublished papers and gray literature. Eligible studies will be critically appraised using the standardized JBI tool. Qualitative research findings will be pooled using the meta-aggregation approach. Then the final synthesized findings will be graded according to the ConQual approach for establishing confidence in the output of qualitative research synthesis and presented in a Summary of Findings.