Can you have control over your end-of-life care? Is it possible to avoid aggressive medical treatment if you do not want it?
According to a Dartmouth Atlas study, 80% of terminally ill patients in the U.S. say they don’t want intensive treatments.
My interpretation: Patients, whether terminally ill or not, are asking for comfort, quality of life for their last days, and relief from pain (palliative care).
Photo: Getty Images, Jan Halaska
The photo and statement above are from an article by Jessica Zitter, MD, for the Houston Chronicle. She says, “my patients need to understand their options and make their own decisions.”
In order to make one’s own decisions in the U.S., such as avoiding hospitalization and invasive treatment, one must create an Advance Healthcare Directive or Five Wishes (an alternative advance directive recognized in 42 states and the District of Columbia). You must declare your specific medical wishes BEFORE such events might occur.
Your wishes must be notarized. Then they are legal. Be aware they may not always honored by ambulance services or doctors in hospitals. Ideally, you will have an advocate – usually a loved one with a copy of your wishes in hand. It is also wise to prepare a POLST Physician’s Order for Life Sustaining Treatment (California) or MOLST Medical Order for Life Sustaining Treatment(New York). This way your wishes will also be registered on an electronic record should you land in a hospital.
What is usually included in a healthcare directive?
It is common to include a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) or DNI (Do Not Intubate) or DND (Do Not Donate) organs or your body. These are all personal choices – saving life or prolonging life at all costs, tubes or not, donating or not. It is also common to designate a healthcare proxy, someone you trust to make decisions in the event you cannot.
A recent article on Huffington Post reported on a request some folks are now including, a DNH (Do Not Hospitalize). See link below for entire article.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.mx/entry/do-not-hospitalize-orders_us_59666c35e4b0a0c6f1e54ed9
I am currently in Mexico exploring senior care, palliative care, and end-of-life issues. The Do Not Hospitalize order got me thinking, even though I am in good health. So last week I updated my Mexican healthcare wishes because American and Canadian Advance Healthcare Directives are not recognized or honored if something happens in Mexico (or most of Latin America where Napoleonic code prevails, and not common law). I have a similar document for Ecuador. When anywhere outside the U.S. I always carry a copy of my Five Wishes.
Note: I was not expected to survive my birth. I am grateful to the hospital that saved my life. In certain cases, such as extreme bleeding or falls, there may be no other option than a hospital. It would be wise to specify the exceptions for hospitalization in your document. In my experience, most people in frail health want to be kept comfortable with palliative care at home, especially for their last days. In this circumstance, caregivers must know not to take you to a hospital.
An estimated 62% of Americans do not have an Advance Healthcare Directive.
I urge you to create your healthcare wishes if you haven’t already. I advise carrying a copy when traveling by air, train, or sea. Keeping a copy handy in the glove compartment of your car is also advised…in case of emergency and for peace of mind.
References:
https://www.agingwithdignity.org/ where you can order a Five Wishes form in English or several other languages
http://capolst.org/ California Physician’s Order for Life Sustaining Treatment. You can download the pink form, fill it out, submit to your physician, who will in turn enter it into a statewide electronic system
http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/data/topic/topic.aspx?cat=18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_healthcare_directive