What is the importance of living wills and other health care advance directives?
A. Efforts to prolong life frequently result in patients dying in pain, at great expense, and receiving treatment they do not want. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has published a study of almost 10,000 patients at five U.S. medical centers, which noted that a surprising number of physicians do not know their patients’ wishes in regard to such particular procedures as cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Another study of nursing home residents in Pennsylvania found that many residents do, in fact, want more aggressive treatment to prolong their life, even if they may be mentally incapacitated. Again, however, and more importantly, is the fact that the nursing home residents’ wishes may not have been known to their health care providers and, as a result, their wishes may not be given effect. The answer to this dilemma is effective communication. In order to document and verify the patient’s wishes, it is important that all of us, particularly as we age, let our wishes be known through the
