Close up image of a caretaker helping older woman walk

Nearly half of California nursing home residents have engaged in end-of-life planning, according to a new study.

University of California-Los Angeles researchers analyzed 296,276 Minimum Data Sets to determine how many Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment forms were voluntarily filled out by residents. 

The POLST forms had a 49% completion rate by the end of 2011, according to the results.