Locating advance care planning facilitators in general practice increases consumer participation

Background Advance care planning (ACP) can positively affect end-of-life care experiences. However, uptake of ACP completion is low. The aim of this study was to investigate whether co-locating ACP facilitators in general practice increased participation Methods Barwon Health commenced promoting its ACP program in 2008. Trained ACP facilitators assisted consumers, which usually occurred in the program’s community-based consulting rooms. From 2012 onwards, ACP facilitators were co-located with 18 general practices, where they assisted consumers at the point of care. Results Referrals to the program increased from 2008–11 (n = 2520) to 2012–15 (n = 6847). Between 2012 and 2015, 48% of referrals to the program were from the 18 general practices with co-located ACP facilitators, and 93% of these referrals resulted in ACPs completed, compared with 74% from practices without co-located facilitators and 55% from all other sources (P <0.01). Discussion Co-locating ACP facilitators in general practice increased the number of referrals to the program and produced higher plan completion rates.