title: Advance directives for mental health care: an analysis of state statutes.
abstract: State statutes enabling individuals to draft written durable advance directives for health care have approached future decisions about mental health care and treatment in several quite different ways. While some states incorporate mental health care into the generic advance directive law, others exclude some kinds of mental health care from the generic law, and a growing number of states have established distinct processes for mental health directives. The author surveys the state statutes and examines the extent to which the statutes may create barriers to the use of advance directives by people with mental illness.
authors.affiliation: Center for Public Representation, 22 Green Street, Northampton, Massachusetts 01060, USA. rfleischner@gbls.org
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Fleischner
mesh_terms: D016223:Advance Directives / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007878:Legislation as Topic; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D013219:State Government; D014481:United States