MAJOR EUROPEAN UNION STUDY USES RESPECTING CHOICES MODEL

May 31, 2014

Researchers from seven European countries are conducting a five-year, $8.5 million dollar study based on the Respecting Choices model, an evidence-based systematic approach to advance care planning. The researchers, pictured here, visited the home of Respecting Choices in La Crosse, Wisconsin last week to become trained as Respecting Choices Instructors, and to learn more about how the model has been successfully implemented in countries worldwide.

“This is the largest study of advance planning intervention I have ever seen, by any measure – the number of countries involved, the number of patients, and the amount of money being spent,” said Dr. Bernard Hammes, director of Medical Humanities at Gundersen Health System and Director of Respecting Choices. The study will focus on whether engaging individuals and families in conversations about planning will improve the quality of life for patients at the end of life. “This study is important because it can affirm that this approach to helping patients and families have these conversations can make a difference,” Hammes said. The study will involve 1,200 patients and take place at 20 hospitals in England, the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, and Slovenia.