This study will develop and evaluate a complex intervention to implement advance care planning for severely ill home-dwelling elderly acutely admitted to hospital, by using a cluster randomized design. Twelve Norwegian acute geriatric hospital units will participate in the main study, each as one cluster. Of the twelve clusters, half will receive implementation support and training immediately, and the other half will receive similar support after the intervention period. The study includes 1) assessment of implementation outcomes (fidelity) in the participating units,2) health service and clinical outcomes including a) questionnaires to all staff in the units before and after the implementation period, questionnaires to attending clinicians and qualitative interviews with health personnel and local unit leaders b) questionnaires to patients and their relatives, patients records and data from central health registers and qualitative interviews with patients and relatives. Furthermore we will assess barriers and facilitators for advance care planning in 1) a wider health service context, and 2) at the national, regional and municipal level, and do economic analyses.
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Implementation outcome study: Fidelity to the intervention model - Advanced Care Planning
Timeframe: Baseline, 9 and 18 months in the intervention arm. Baseline and 18 months in the control arm.
Clinical effectiveness study 1: Patient-reported outcome
Timeframe: During the intervention period (10-18 months after the start of the implementation support)
Clinical effectiveness study 2: Relative-reported outcome
Timeframe: During the intervention period (10-18 months after the start of the implementation support)
Clinical effectiveness study 3: Clinician outcome
Timeframe: During the intervention period (10-18 months after the start of the implementation support)