I CAN DO Surgical ACP

ACP is also a critical way to support older adults in participating actively with clinicians in making real-time, complex medical decisions so that the medical care they receive is aligned with their goals. Our team has designed and tested a theory-based, interactive ACP patient-facing technology solution (PREPARE) based on the new ACP paradigm of preparing people for communication and medical decision-making. The study team hypothesizes that by including PREPARE into the EHR-centric pre-surgery workflow for older adults and including automated patient reminders, easy-to-read materials, and, in Arm 3, directed support from a healthcare navigator (HCN), they can empower patients and surgical teams to engage in ACP discussions. They also hypothesize that ACP documentation will increase more with increasing resource intensity (i.e., Arm 3 more than Arm 2 more than Arm 1).

Participants will be randomized to Arms: (1) Letter about ACP, PREPARE advanced directive (AD), PREPARE website; (2) Letter, advanced directive (AD), PREPARE plus reminder messages; (3) Letter, advanced directive (AD,) PREPARE plus reminders plus a healthcare navigator on ACP documentation (clinically meaningful ACP, primary outcome). All patients randomized to the intervention will be sent a patient-reported ACP engagement survey (secondary outcome).

Inclusion criteria

• Older Adults (age 65+) referred for surgical evaluation

Exclusion criteria

• ACP on file within 3 years prior to surgery (UCSF and UCI) and 5 years (UMN)
• Was previously randomized into intervention for a prior surgery during the 18-month study period