Advance care planning, culture and religion: An environmental scan of Australian-based online resources

Objectives: Culture and religion are important in advance care planning (ACP), yet it is not well understood how this is represented in ACP online resources. The aim of the present study was to identify the availability of Australian-based ACP websites and online informational booklets containing cultural and religious information.

Methods: An environmental scanning framework was used with a Google search conducted from 30 June 2015 to 5 July 2015. Eligible Australian-based ACP websites and online informational booklets were reviewed by two analysts (APS & PM) for information pertaining to at least one culture or religion. Common characteristics were agreed upon and tabulated with narrative description.

Results: Seven Australian-based ACP websites were identified with varying degrees of cultural and religious information. Seven Australian-based ACP informational booklets were identified addressing culture or religion, namely of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (n = 5), Sikh (n = 1) and Italian (n = 1) communities. Twenty-one other online resources with cultural and religious information were identified, developed within the context of health and palliative care.

Conclusions: There is no comprehensive Australian-based ACP website or informational booklet supporting ACP across several cultural and religious contexts. Considering Australia’s multicultural and multifaith population, such a resource may be beneficial in increasing awareness and uptake of ACP.

What is known about the topic?: Health professionals and consumers frequently use the Internet to find information. Non-regulation has resulted in the proliferation of ACP online resources (i.e. ACP websites and online informational booklets). Although this has contributed to raising awareness of ACP, the availability of Australian-based ACP online resources with cultural and religious information is not well known.

What does this paper add?: This paper is the first to use an environmental scanning methodology to identify Australian-based ACP websites and online informational booklets with cultural and religious information.

What are the implications for practitioners?: The results of this environmental scan present the availability of Australian-based ACP websites and online informational booklets containing cultural and religious information. A thorough understanding may assist in identifying gaps for future ACP project planning and policy objectives, consistent with meeting cultural and religious needs. This may be beneficial for health professionals, consumers, health associations, organisations and government policy makers concerned with ACP.