title: Communicating with surrogate decision-makers in end-of-life situations: substitutive descriptive language for the healthcare provider.
abstract: This article discusses the manner and actual wording used by healthcare providers in communicating difficult information as it relates to end-of-life discussions. Several examples are given and substitutive language is suggested for more effectively obtaining informed consent from surrogate decision-makers, who are often responsible for determining the course of care for the terminally ill.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Limerick
mesh_terms: D016223:Advance Directives; D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D020458:Third-Party Consent; D014342:Truth Disclosure; D014481:United States