title: Advance directives in oncology: are they useful?
abstract: This paper discusses advance directives from the point of view of advanced directives: living wills, enduring power of attorney and combined instruments. They are discussed from the point of view of patients, the health-care teams and the public. It stresses the need for adequate information before such an instrument can be binding and suggests that enunciating goals is the most important task.
authors.affiliation: Kaiser Permanente, Sacramento, California 95825, USA. tim.grennan@kp.org
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grennan
mesh_terms: D016223:Advance Directives / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016224:Living Wills / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D019727:Proxy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States