“Endnotes” is a regular section of STAT, a website focused on the “frontiers of health and medicine.” Someone on an online frontotemporal dementia support group recently shared an article on STATnews.com so I started digging around on the website. There are lots of good articles.
This article — titled “Making a living will is a good idea. Telling people about it is even better” — makes an excellent point. Many of us have prepared a living will or advance care directives but few of us have shared them with our primary and secondary healthcare agents. And few of us have had conversations about our wishes with our healthcare agents.
The author notes that “spouses often grant power of attorney to one another or complete living wills, but they find it too painful to talk openly about each other’s death.”
Also, some patients are “reluctant to thoroughly advocate for their end-of-life preferences” as they are worried about hurting the feelings of their loved ones.
When a healthcare agent doesn’t know the person’s end-of-life wishes for treatment, this can backfire because usually uninformed healthcare agents opt for aggressive treatment.
Here’s a link to the article:
www.statnews.com/2015/12/04/living-will-important-steps/
Endnotes
Making a living will is a good idea. Telling people about it is even better
STAT
By Bob Tedeschi
December 4, 2015
Robin