Knowledge of End-Of-Life Law: A Cross-Sectional Survey of General Practitioners Working in Aged Care

Marcus Sellars (Independent), Ben White (Queensland University of Technology), Patsy Yates (Queensland University of Technology), Lindy Willmott (Queensland University of Technology), Knowledge of End-Of-Life Law: A Cross-Sectional Survey of General Practitioners Working in Aged Care, Australasian J. Ageing (2021):

Objective: To describe the knowledge of end-of-life law and experiences in practice at the end-of-life amongst Australian General Practitioners (GPs).

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey of GPs practising in aged care settings in QLD, NSW and VIC.

Results: From 521 potential GPs, 160 (response rate 30.7%) were included in the final sample. Most participants (62%) reported experience with six key end-of-life areas at least “a few times”, including 74% administering medication for pain and symptom relief, and 67% facilitating advance care planning “several” or “many times” and perceiving they had “some” knowledge of end-of-life law (53%, n=84). However, low to moderate actual levels of end-of-life legal knowledge were identified (mean correct response of 5.24 out of 9).

Conclusion: Australian GPs working in aged care may have low to moderate knowledge about end-of-life law despite frequently making end-of-life decisions in clinical practice.