Effectively Implementing Psychiatric Advance Directives

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Psychiatric advance directives (PADs) allow competent persons to declare their treatment preferences and designate a proxy decision maker in advance of a mental health crisis when they may lose capacity to make reliable healthcare decisions. Fifteen states have adopted PAD legislation, yet little research has been conducted to answer emerging policy questions: What is the demand for PADs among consumers? Is formal assistance necessary to facilitate effective PADs? Do PADs conform with clinical judgments of appropriate treatment? How are PADs actually used and enforced in practice settings? Do PADs with certain features enhance treatment engagement, improve the process of care surrounding psychiatric crises, and provide a greater sense of autonomy for persons with severe mental illness (SMI)? Might PADs have negative consequences, e.g., if prepared without adequate comprehension or instructions, or if not implemented as planned? The proposed study will address these questions as follows: (1) Conduct a randomized trial of Facilitated Psychiatric Advance Directives (F-PAD), a manualized, pilot-tested intervention to assist consumers in completing PADs; (2) Examine the implementation of PADs over 1 year) in a sample of N=400 consumers with SMI in North Carolina. Subjects will be randomly assigned to the FPAD intervention or a "usual care" control group. F-PAD subjects will be given individualized orientation and assistance in completing a template-structured PAD and healthcare power of attorney (HCPA) document if they wish. Control subjects will receive a brief orientation to PADs (as part of informed consent to the study), written material, an opportunity to attend a group education meeting about PADs, and the telephone number of a consumer organization that provides consultation regarding PADs. Clinicians and proxies will also be given orientation regarding PADs. Subjects and their clinicians will be followed up with a structured interview at 1 month and 12 months to examine the rate of completion of PADs/HCPA, their structure and content, subsequent treatment engagement and crisis management outcomes. PAD/HCPA documents will be electronically stored with the U.S. Living Will Registry, which provides automated access to advance care documents. The proposed study will provide information about a state's experience with PADs so that policymakers may be guided in implementing PADs elsewhere.