advance directive

Drafting an advance directive is an exercise in liberty.

But with the number of people living with dementia expected to nearly triple worldwide by 2050, some in the medical community now see a need to expand the scope of the advance directive.

It is a written, advance directive that informs physicians and other providers of an individual's end-of-life wishes as carried out by the DPOA for health care.

The choice is yours to make and some put their wishes in a legal document known as an advance directive. A person may be as specific or general as they want such as wanting soft classical music playing or just asking that no life saving measures such as a feeding tube be used.

About one in three adults in the United States currently completes an advance directive, and the proportion is not much higher, even for those with a serious illness.

Does a DNR tattoo meet the legal requirements for an advance directive under Virginia law?

([dagger]) Based on the question "Of the current residents, how many have documentation of an advance directive in their file?" asked of the 98% of communities that responded "yes" to "Does this residential care community typically maintain documentation of residents' advance directives or have documentation that an advance directive exists in resident files?"

An advance directive is a legal document that tells healthcare providers your preferences regarding medical treatment for end-of-life care if you become incapacitated.

Although randomized trials support the value of advance care planning, especially in primary care settings, (3,4) two-thirds of Americans have not completed an advance directive. (5) Rolnick suggests we "delegalize" the process to remove barriers and make it easier for people to execute such documents and integrate them into health care systems.

(4) It includes 1) strong, clear health care laws, the West Virginia Health Care Decisions Act and the West Virginia Do Not Resuscitate Act; 2) trained advance care planning facilitators; 3) a POST program; 4) an electronic online registry for treating health care providers to access a patient's advance directive, do not resuscitate (DNR) card, and/or POST form in a medical emergency; and 5) Emergency Medical Services that checks the Registry in the transport of medically unstable patients (Table).

* Ask the Tennessee Department of Health to include more space on the Advance Directive form for a patient (and/or family or caregiver) narrative regarding end of life care preferences.