What beliefs and values are important to the patient and do they affect the patient’s treatment decisions?
An assessment collects information that helps the health care team identify and manage problems a patient may have in adjusting to a change in care. Having cancer affects more than the patient’s physical condition. It also affects mental health, family life, ability to work, financial planning, social relationships, and faith. Many patients will encounter problems in one or more of these areas as they transfer from one level of care to another. For example, a patient’s family may have problems obtaining special home equipment or learning to use special equipment. Another patient may have a difficult time accepting the change from anticancer care to symptom relief alone, such as that provided with some types of palliative or hospice care. Transitional care planning is unique to each patient and family. Assessments help identify patients who may have problems during the transition and help determine the kind of support they will need to make the change go smoothly. The assessments may in
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- Can I give my patient advocate the authority to make decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment, including food and water administered through tubes?
- Can I give my patient advocate the right to make decisions to withhold or withdraw life sustaining treatment?
- What beliefs and values are important to the patient and do they affect the patient’s treatment decisions?
