Tomorrow is Health Care Decisions Day, part of a national campaign to encourage Americans to complete their advance directives or living wills and document their desires regarding medical treatment at the end of life.
Now we have the evidence that advance directives do make a difference. Researchers at the University of Michigan combed through the records of over 4,000 individuals over age 60 and found that almost a third would eventually become too incapacitated to make the necessary decisions regarding medical treatment at the end of life. But among them, nearly all of those with a living will requesting limited or comfort-care only ultimately did receive such care at the end of their lives. And those who specified all care possible were far more likely to receive aggressive care than those who did not. NY Times
No comments:
Post a Comment