Advance end-of-life treatment planning. A research review.
The year 1996 marks the fifth anniversary of the federal Patient Self-Determination Act. The Patient Self-Determination Act required hospitals, nursing homes, and health plans to ask whether patients have advance directives and to incorporate them into the medical record. A "living will" is an advance directive by which a person tells caregivers the circumstances in which life-sustaining treatment is to be provided or forgone if the patient is unable to communicate. A "durable power of attorney for health care" enables one to designate a person to speak on his or her behalf if the author loses decision-making capacity. "Advance planning" is the process of reflection, discussion, and communication of treatment preferences for end-of-life care that precedes and may lead to an advance directive.
Miles
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Center for Biomedical Ethics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA. Miles001@maroon.tc.umn.edu
Koepp
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Weber
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D032722:Advance Care Planning; D016223:Advance Directives; D003142:Communication; D032882:Comprehension; D036262:Empirical Research; D006801:Humans; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D016414:Resuscitation Orders; D012945:Social Values; D013727:Terminal Care; D035501:Uncertainty; D028761:Withholding Treatment