Advance Care Planning in the United Kingdom - A snapshot from the four UK nations

Z Evid Fortbild Qual Gesundhwes. 2023 Aug 2:S1865-9217(23)00134-4. doi: 10.1016/j.zefq.2023.05.023. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe United Kingdom (UK) as a whole has a long-established decades-old history as an early adopter of the concepts of Advance Care Planning (ACP), with significant integration into mainstream national policy and widespread implementation. The ACP term itself, its processes, means, inclusions and implementations vary considerably within the UK and between its four nations, but the overall impression is of a strongly uniting consensus on the positive impact, value and vital importance of ACP in enabling better care for people in the final years of life, and at earlier life stages. Though there is always more work to do and more lessons to learn, those of us who have watched this world-wide movement grow over recent decades, find the overall direction of travel of commitment to mainstreaming ACP in the UK to be inspiring and encouraging, and gives us hope for the future. Across the UK, there is much shared history, policy, objectives, and regulation related to ACP, and at the same time, many variations in approach, tone, emphasis and detail within and between the four nations of the UK. The 2022 Office of National Statistics reports that the four nations of the UK have a combined population of 67 million (England 56.5 million, Scotland 5.5 million, Wales 3.1 million, Northern Ireland 1.9 million). All four nations are prioritising ACP as part of nation...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualitat im Gesundheitswesen - Category: Health Management Authors: Source Type: research