Increased Use of Advance Directives

In a recent article, The New York Times cited a study by The Commonwealth Fund focused on health care for Americans over age 65. While the report gave low grades to many aspects of seniors' health care in America, it noted that seniors in America "do better than almost anyone else in the survey on advance care planning. Americans over 65 are the most likely to say they have discussed having a health care proxy (78 percent) and to have actually named one (67 percent), and rank second in having a written plan describing their end-of-life wishes (55 percent)."

This is very encouraging. As I discuss in my book, Patient Confidential, Tips and Advice To Keep You Safe As You Navigate the Healthcare System, the law of most states provides several mechanisms by which you can express your wishes for end of life care before you are too ill to make such decisions.  These mechanisms are referred to as "advance directives."

It is beyond the scope of a blog to discuss advance directives in detail, but a full explanation and analysis can be found in Patient Confidential and other books on healthcare. Your doctor is a good sources for forms for advance directives.