title: [The living will].
abstract: The importance of decision making that is informed and shared between the patient and the health professional caring for him/her is essential for the quality of care and its results. Living wills are no more than a concrete expression of this reality. Their legal acceptance has meant recognition of respect for the autonomy of patients. However, the laws passed contain some incongruities and the health practice related to these documents suffers from numerous practical and ethical problems on which reflection is invited. The article concludes by recommending the adoption of measures aimed at strengthening the advance planning of health care, a question that requires profound changes in the training of professionals and in the policies of the health institutions.
authors.affiliation: Medicina intensiva, Hospital de Navarra, Pamplona 31008, Spain. kmartinez@cfnavarra.es
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Martínez
mesh_terms: D001675:Bioethics; D006801:Humans; D016224:Living Wills / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*