OT Schiavo fallout.

(Medical Content Reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School)

Living Wills And Other Advance Directives

How to see that your wishes are respected if accident or illness leaves you
unable to look out for yourself.

Advance directives for health care provide a means for people to specify the
kinds of medical treatment they want - or do not want - when illness or
accident leaves them incapable of making decisions on these matters.

There are two types of advance directives for health care: the living will
and the durable power of attorney for health care. Both are written, legal
documents. They may be drafted with or without the assistance of an attorney
on standardized forms, and both may be revoked in writing or orally by the
declarant (the person making the advance directive) or by a designated
proxy.

The living will is a set of instructions to health-care providers that
clearly specifies what a patient does and does not want when end-of-life
medical decisions have to be made. These instructions might include, but are
not restricted to, directives about artificially administered nutrition or
hydration, being kept alive on a respirator or being given cardiopulmonary
resuscitation for cardiac arrest. If you don't specify in your living will a
particular element of treatment or treatment withdrawal, then it's not
covered.

The durable power of attorney for health care offers broader patient options
because it designates another person to act an as agent in making medical
decisions if the patient is unable to do so. A durable power of attorney is
not as specific as a living will. It says: If I am not able to make
health-care decisions for myself, then I want a surrogate - usually, but not
always, a family member - to make those decisions for me.

Having both a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care is
best. The more specific you are when you write a living will, the easier it
will be for the person assigned power of attorney to fulfill your
end-of-life wishes.

Recognizing the importance of understanding a patient's treatment wishes at
the end of life, in 1990 Congress enacted the Patient Self-Determination Act
(PSDA). This national law ensures that patients admitted to hospitals,
nursing homes, home health agencies, HMOs and hospices are informed of their
rights under state law to prepare advance health-care directives on
life-sustaining medical treatments. This act at least has resulted in many
states examining the uncertainties in existing laws regarding end-of-life
decisions.

Patients and even people in good health should discuss end-of-life medical
treatment and advance health-care directives with their spouses, other
family members, physicians, nurses and clerics to communicate openly on
these issues and to ease the inevitable pressures that occur when these
decisions must be made without benefit of an advance directive.

Among important considerations to be discussed, other than medical
treatment, are health insurance and financial issues. Often,
health-insurance benefits are exhausted and family financial resources
seriously depleted by a long illness in which the patient is unresponsive to
treatment, or is in a persistent vegetative state or permanently
unconscious. These issues should be discussed and resolved, if possible,
before they arise.

Attitudes toward the living will and durable power of attorney have become
more enlightened and favorable in recent years, and there's a growing trend
toward their use. But a high percentage of people do not have them and there
are still misconceptions about them. One big misconception is that if you
have a living will and decline life-sustaining treatment you will not be
given medical care. This is not correct.

Last updated January 18, 2005


Resources

To find more information about living wills and advance directives, as
well as state-by-state appropriate forms, visit the National Hospice and
Palliative Care Organization or Living Will Registry web sites or contact
them directly at:

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
1700 Diagonal Road
Suite 625
Alexandria, VA 22314
Fax: (703) 837-1233
Toll-free: 1-800-658-8898
E-mail: [email]consumers@nhpco.org[/email]
Web site: [url]www.caringinfo.org/[/url]

U.S. Living Will Registry
523 Westfield Ave.
P.O. Box 2789
Westfield, NJ 07091-2789
Toll-free: (800) LIV-WILL (800-548-9455)
E-mail: [email]admin@uslivingwillregistry.com[/email]
Web site: [url]www.uslivingwillregistry.com/[/url]

In article <w4r3e.13021$S46.7234@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
"Philip" <1chip-state1@earthlink.n0t> wrote:
[color=blue]
> (Medical Content Reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School)
>
> Living Wills And Other Advance Directives
>
> How to see that your wishes are respected if accident or illness leaves you
> unable to look out for yourself.
>
> Advance directives for health care provide a means for people to specify the
> kinds of medical treatment they want - or do not want - when illness or
> accident leaves them incapable of making decisions on these matters.
>
> There are two types of advance directives for health care: the living will
> and the durable power of attorney for health care. Both are written, legal
> documents. They may be drafted with or without the assistance of an attorney
> on standardized forms, and both may be revoked in writing or orally by the
> declarant (the person making the advance directive) or by a designated
> proxy.
>
> The living will is a set of instructions to health-care providers that
> clearly specifies what a patient does and does not want when end-of-life
> medical decisions have to be made. These instructions might include, but are
> not restricted to, directives about artificially administered nutrition or
> hydration, being kept alive on a respirator or being given cardiopulmonary
> resuscitation for cardiac arrest. If you don't specify in your living will a
> particular element of treatment or treatment withdrawal, then it's not
> covered.
>
> The durable power of attorney for health care offers broader patient options
> because it designates another person to act an as agent in making medical
> decisions if the patient is unable to do so. A durable power of attorney is
> not as specific as a living will. It says: If I am not able to make
> health-care decisions for myself, then I want a surrogate - usually, but not
> always, a family member - to make those decisions for me.
>
> Having both a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care is
> best. The more specific you are when you write a living will, the easier it
> will be for the person assigned power of attorney to fulfill your
> end-of-life wishes.
>
> Recognizing the importance of understanding a patient's treatment wishes at
> the end of life, in 1990 Congress enacted the Patient Self-Determination Act
> (PSDA). This national law ensures that patients admitted to hospitals,
> nursing homes, home health agencies, HMOs and hospices are informed of their
> rights under state law to prepare advance health-care directives on
> life-sustaining medical treatments. This act at least has resulted in many
> states examining the uncertainties in existing laws regarding end-of-life
> decisions.
>
> Patients and even people in good health should discuss end-of-life medical
> treatment and advance health-care directives with their spouses, other
> family members, physicians, nurses and clerics to communicate openly on
> these issues and to ease the inevitable pressures that occur when these
> decisions must be made without benefit of an advance directive.
>
> Among important considerations to be discussed, other than medical
> treatment, are health insurance and financial issues. Often,
> health-insurance benefits are exhausted and family financial resources
> seriously depleted by a long illness in which the patient is unresponsive to
> treatment, or is in a persistent vegetative state or permanently
> unconscious. These issues should be discussed and resolved, if possible,
> before they arise.
>
> Attitudes toward the living will and durable power of attorney have become
> more enlightened and favorable in recent years, and there's a growing trend
> toward their use. But a high percentage of people do not have them and there
> are still misconceptions about them. One big misconception is that if you
> have a living will and decline life-sustaining treatment you will not be
> given medical care. This is not correct.
>
> Last updated January 18, 2005
>
>
> Resources
>
> To find more information about living wills and advance directives, as
> well as state-by-state appropriate forms, visit the National Hospice and
> Palliative Care Organization or Living Will Registry web sites or contact
> them directly at:
>
> National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
> 1700 Diagonal Road
> Suite 625
> Alexandria, VA 22314
> Fax: (703) 837-1233
> Toll-free: 1-800-658-8898
> E-mail: [email]consumers@nhpco.org[/email]
> Web site: [url]www.caringinfo.org/[/url]
>
> U.S. Living Will Registry
> 523 Westfield Ave.
> P.O. Box 2789
> Westfield, NJ 07091-2789
> Toll-free: (800) LIV-WILL (800-548-9455)
> E-mail: [email]admin@uslivingwillregistry.com[/email]
> Web site: [url]www.uslivingwillregistry.com/[/url][/color]

I printed it. Thankyou Philip.
--

"dbu~" <n.ospam@spam.org> wrote in message
news:n.ospam-4F102D.05595602042005@news-rdr-01.rdc-kc.rr.com...[color=blue]
> In article <w4r3e.13021$S46.7234@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
> "Philip" <1chip-state1@earthlink.n0t> wrote:
>[color=green]
>> (Medical Content Reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School)
>>
>> Living Wills And Other Advance Directives[/color][/color]

*snipping great info*[color=blue]
>
> I printed it. Thankyou Philip.
> --
>[/color]
Hubby and I have *always* had Living Wills (As well as estate wills); if
nothing else, poor Terri's death has opened the public's eyes to a no-win
situation. As for estate wills, no matter how little you think you have,
you'd be amazed at what your family/partner/charity could gain upon your
death. I believe anyone who has even the most minimal amount of private
property should look into getting an estate will, as well as the Advance
Directive (Another name for Living Wills).

Natalie