| Recently, our
19-year old cat died. Her health failed rapidly one morning. Our
family had to decide if she'd prefer to die naturally at home with us
close by or endure going to the veterinarian to be euthanized. If she
could have spoken, we would have honored her wishes.
Fortunately, people can express how
they want to be treated when the end is near. If we want others to
honor our medical-treatment wishes, it's a good idea to talk about—and
make—these decisions while we're in good health. Writing these wishes
down, whatever they are, is known as an advance directive.
Advance directives include living
wills, medical powers of attorney and other documents that specify our
medical-treatment wishes. A living will primarily deals with
life-support decisions if we become incapacitated by illness, injury,
or old age. A medical power of attorney designates who we want to
speak for us in a healthcare situation when we can no longer make our
own decisions. A CPR directive lets others know if we want to be
revived if our heart and/or breathing stop. Other types of directives
address other specifics, such as organ transplants and donations.
The nonprofit organization Aging with
Dignity also offers a document called the Five Wishes, which
addresses legal and medical issues as well as the emotional and
spiritual concerns we face when we're dying. The reader-friendly
document, which is legally valid in 33 states including Colorado, is a
tool to help people talk about end-of-life questions:
- Who do I want to make medical
decisions for me when I can't?
- What kinds of medical treatment do I
want or not want?
- How comfortable must I be?
- How do I want to be treated?
- What should my loved ones know?
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Resources for living wills and other advance directives
Visit healthinfosource.com and click on the
"Advance Directives" health topic for a comprehensive list of
local and national resources and links for getting started.
American Association of Retired
Persons
(800) 424-3410
Call to request a free copy of the publication, Shape Your
Health-Care Future with Health-Care Advance Directives.
(To order publication, follow recorded
instructions to speak with a customer service representative.)
Aging with Dignity
P.O. Box 1661
Tallahassee, FL 32302-1661
(850) 681-2010
Provides information about the Five Wishes and how to order
the document and the Five Wishes video.
Aspen Club
(Poudre Valley Hospital)
495-8560
A free community resource that provides information and blank
advance-directive forms including the Five Wishes.
Choice in Dying
(800) 989-9455
A nonprofit organization that provides state-specific advance
directives and related publications and counsels patients and
families on end-of-life decisions.
Fort Collins Senior Center
1200 Raintree Drive, Fort Collins
221-6644
Local attorney Tim McKnight is available the first Thursday of
each month to meet with seniors to answer their legal questions.
Call ahead for an appointment.
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The document is written in everyday language that's easy to
understand. Jim Towey, a Florida attorney and former hospice worker
who developed Five Wishes, says, "It's meant more for the living room
than the waiting room." In
addition to the directives cited above, Five Wishes addresses
palliative care—healthcare that isn't intended to prolong life but to
keep us as comfortable as possible in the time that remains. Do we
want someone to hold our hand or read to us? How do we want to be
remembered?
Once we've put our wishes in writing,
the documents must be signed, witnessed and notarized with copies
given to our doctor, agent and healthcare facility.
A lawyer is not needed to complete
these legal documents. Blank forms and additional information about
advance directives are available through the Aspen Club at Poudre
Valley Hospital. |
