Improving Advance Care Planning for Adolescents and Young Adults Diagnosed with Cancer: Pan-Canadian Development of Voicing My CHOiCES– Canada

In Canada, over 9,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs; ages 15-39 years) are diagnosed with cancer each year. For young people with advanced cancer, talking about their end-of-life (EoL) preferences is important, but many don’t get the opportunity to share their wishes. Improving EoL for AYAs in Canada is an important priority for research identified by patients, caregivers, and clinicians. Voicing My CHOiCES (VMC) is an advance care planning tool that was created to help guide conversations about EoL care for young people and has shown to improve their experiences. However, there are unique aspects to the Canadian healthcare system that are not covered in the current VMC tool and so a Canadian version is needed. This study will assess how appropriate and helpful VMC is for Canadian AYAs and identify any changes needed to make it more relevant. This research is the first step in a larger program of research to focus on improving care for young people with advanced cancer in Canada.