Do You Have Your Advance Directives Written??

 Over the last months, I have had the opportunity to assist several families that were thrown into dealing with their loved one’s end of life wishes. Each family story is different, but the common theme was “the elder parent “ had not discussed nor written down his or her end of life wishes. 

 One father’s wishes were to not have CPR and to not return to the hospital if he had an exacerbation of congestive heart failure. From code status and hospital admission, these wishes sound easy. But since the elderly parent had not discussed these wishes with his health care providers and family, the family wasn’t able to fully advocate for his rights.  When he had an exacerbation of his heart failure, the nursing home transferred him to the hospital. After being admitted, he had tests and treatments that prolonged his life. After several weeks, he died in the hospital.  If he had discussed his wishes, named a health care representative, or created a living will, the family could have advocated for his wishes and prevented this last hospitalization.  

 It doesn’t matter what age you are… if you wait until the last days of your life to make others aware of your wishes, your wishes may not be carried out.  Not because your loved ones don’t care, but because they will not have enough time to understand what you are requesting and be able to appropriately advocate for your rights. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of letting those close to you know your wishes and writing them down.

Have you had those conversations with your parents – with your children?

 If these conversations do not happen, the end of life decisions become very difficult and many times will divide a family at a time when they should be together.  Don’t let this be your family.  Do your research- and ask the hard questions. 

 An excellent site to visit is Aging with Dignity.  It will assist you in addressing those hard to discuss topics ( http://www.agingwithdignity.org). Aging with Dignity is a non-profit organization that was established to provide practical information, advice and legal tools you need to assist you in identifying and documenting your wishes and those of your loved ones.  The document called the “Five Wishes” is legally valid in 40 states.  You can obtain a copy at http://www.agingwithdignity.org/5wishes.html.

Another site is Partnership for Caring http://www.caringinfo.org/  and (1-800-989-9455). The Partnership for Caring has downloadable advance directives requirements for all 50 states, or one may call for advance directives documents. 

There is never a good time – but anytime is the right time.  Talk now.

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the "Web Log" ... the genesis of the "Blog".  Of course, sharing ideas over the internet goes back to the dawn of the net itself.  The original idea of the then government sponsored network was to connect academic institutions and government agencies for the purpose of research and collaboration.

The Blog came along originally as a way to share information about where the "blogger" had been on the internet that day and what they had experience.  It quickly became an on-line diary of sorts.  This created the "stickiness" of the concept which since evolved in that dimension and many more.  

For My Health Care Manager the concept has been extended to caregivers helping aging parents and even seniors looking to improve the health and well-being.  Take a look at the blogs listed here - you'll find information on all of the most common heath challenges facing seniors and their families.  Some examples include falls, home safety, dementia, congestive heart failure, diabetes, and many more.

Having access to key thoughts on these challenges is valuable, but even more valuable is the key blogging concept of providing direct feedback to the author.  If you have a question of a comment on an article you've read, don't hesitate to use the "Comments" link right below the posting.  You can read comments and responses from others and best of all ask your question directly. 

If you don't see an article on the subject you're most interested in, post your question as a comment to the top entry in the Blog.  We'll answer the question in a future blog, comment, or email.