Background Prospectively, patients with migratory backgrounds in need of Hospice and Palliative Care (HPC) will increase. Only few data about the health of this group in HPC context are available. The utilisation of Advanced Directives (AD) in this group is unknown, whereas the „Culturally Sensitive Advanced Directive” can improve consideration for and realisation of the presumed will.

Aim Collecting data about the utilisation of AD among migrants compared to non-migrants.

Methods Measurement of the migrant status by an evaluated questionnaire and the presence of an AD of all admitted patients in 3 Palliative Care Wards for 6 month.

Results 428 patient data were analysed. 21% are migrants, 8% out of these patients were in possession of an AD, compared to 36% of the non-migrant patients. 60% of the migrants evaluate their German language competency as “very good” or “good”.

Discussion AD are under-utilised in the analysed group. According to the self-assessment, a lack of language skills might not be the reason. Sparse information about AD among this group could cause this disparity. Considering ethnic backgrounds as important factors in decision making at the end of life, comprehensive and precise AD might appropriate to improve the quality of HPC in migrants, especially if communication borders exist.

Conclusion Despite the small cohort, the results suggest low utilisation of AD by migrants. Providing adequate information about AD for this group might be an important step in improving end-of-life care. Efforts should be taken by health insurances and care providers.

Remark: at the time of presentation, patient data from 2 additional wards will be analysed.