Young Adult African American family members' perceptions, knowledge, attitudes, and utilization toward advance directives.

Abstract

Advance directives (ADs) give patients autonomy in making decisions regarding end-of-life preferences prior to becoming incapacitated or otherwise unable to communicate. Limited family-related research currently exists on young, adult African American families and their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions toward the utilization of ADs. A mixed-method design of quantitative data, using the Advance Directives-Knowledge, Attitudes, and Utilization Questionnaire (AD-KAUQ); and qualitative data, using a focused group session, was conducted in a southeastern city in the United States. The study surveyed 112 young, adult African American family members, ages 21-40 years, to explore their perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes toward utilizing ADs, as well as to determine whether there was a relationship between gender, education level, marital status, and occupation in making this decision. The study findings did not support evidence of significant relationships between the variables with the exception for the relationship between gender and the feeling of being treated differently for having a living will in place. This finding suggested that there was a need for members of young, adult African American families to obtain knowledge of ADs.