(1) Background: Currently, Taiwan has adopted a “person-centered” approach to Advance
Care, including Hospice Palliative Care and Advance Decisions, both of which are intended to enhance
the right of individuals to choose their own end-of-life care; however, it is extremely challenging
and difficult to implement the principle of autonomy for psychiatric patients. (2) Methodology: The
aim in this study is to investigate the factors affecting the intention of day ward patients to sign up
for hospice and palliative care by using the questionnaire content of the “Survey on Knowledge,
Attitude Toward, Experience, and Behavior Intention to Sign Up for Hospice and Palliative Care”. A
cross-sectional design compliant with STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies
in Epidemiology) was employed. An independent sample t-test, Pearson’s correlation analysis,
and stepwise regression analysis were used to determine the factors influencing the intention of
psychiatric patients to sign up for advanced care planning. (3) Results: The relationships between
knowledge of and attitude toward advanced care planning, knowledge of and behavior intention
to sign up for advanced care planning, and attitude toward and behavior intention to sign up for
advanced care planning were all positive (p-value < 0.001). The final three most relevant indicators
were attitude toward hospice and palliative care, hospitalization of family members during the previous
five years, and death of a close friend within the previous five years. (4) Conclusions: The results
of the study show that the hospice and palliative care attitude and past experience of psychiatric
patients affect the intention to sign up, reminding us that psychiatric patients are at an increased
risk of decision-making disability as their illness progresses and that, in addition to initiating the
discussion of Advance Care Planning as soon as possible, it may be an opportune time for medical
professionals to actively promote Advance Care Planning among their patients.
