Too soon to give up: re-examining the value of advance directives.
In the face of mounting criticism against advance directives, we describe how a novel, computer-based decision aid addresses some of these important concerns. This decision aid, Making Your Wishes Known: Planning Your Medical Future, translates an individual's values and goals into a meaningful advance directive that explicitly reflects their healthcare wishes and outlines a plan for how they wish to be treated. It does this by (1) educating users about advance care planning; (2) helping individuals identify, clarify, and prioritize factors that influence their decision-making about future medical conditions; (3) explaining common end-of-life medical conditions and life-sustaining treatment; (4) helping users articulate a coherent set of wishes with regard to advance care planning-in the form of an advance directive readily interpretable by physicians; and (5) helping individuals both choose a spokesperson, and prepare to engage family, friends, and health care providers in discussions about advance care planning.
Levi
Benjamin H
BH
Penn State College of Medicine, Humanities & Pediatrics, Hershey, PA 17033, USA. bhlevi@psu.edu
Green
Michael J
MJ
D032722:Advance Care Planning / Q000941:ethics / Q000639:trends; D016223:Advance Directives / Q000941:ethics / Q000639:trends; D001293:Attitude to Death; D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making; D003658:Decision Making, Computer-Assisted; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D016224:Living Wills / Q000941:ethics / Q000639:trends; D018447:Medical Futility; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends