Modelling End of Life Care Priorities with a Discrete Choice Experiment

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K10504
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 58010:Medical management and medical sociology-related
• Research Institution: Saitama University
• Principal Investigator: BOLT Timothy 埼玉大学, 人文社会科学研究科, 准教授 (40757564)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 田宮 菜奈子 筑波大学, 医学医療系, 教授 (20236748)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: Health Economics / End-of-Life Care / Advance Care Planning / Advance Directive / Palliative Care / Choice Experiments / Stated Preferennce

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study culminated in a series of discrete choice experiments to better understand the acceptance of Advance Care Planning (ACP) discussions and written Advance Directives (AD) among the public and clinicians in Japan based on the characteristics of the care plan, care recipient and ACP/AD process. The first of the choice experiments modelled the trade-offs in the Japanese public's own treatment preferences if they were to be critically ill. Additional studies modelled how different circumstances at the time of illness affect how the public feels about implementing an existing ACP/AD and also a study of competence and acceptability of ACP/AD. A parallel study with a sample of doctors and a sample of nurses for these was used to also report on clinician attitudes and experiences in implementing ACP/AD.

Free Research Field

Health Economics

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

This study has provided an insight into both the Japanese preferences for their own end-of-life care interventions and for what issues affect the implimenting of Advance Directives more generally. The resulting analysis and policy implications includes comparison with attitudes of clinicians.