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A Message From CEO, Jean Maile
Advance Directives: The best way to ensure that our final
wishes will be honored.
Every day we make decisions based on our dreams and hopes for the
future, what work we will do, where our children will go to school,
where we will live after we retire. Before we make major life
decisions, we often talk with our family, friends, clergy and legal -
financial advisors. However, those we care about and trust to
advise us may never know about one of the most thoughtful decisions
we have made - how we would choose to live out our lives if we were
severely ill or injured. Yet without that knowledge, others may
not understand nor honor our wishes if we can no longer speak for
ourselves or participate in our own medical treatment decisions.
Who do we want making those decisions on our behalf?
In 1991, the U.S.
Supreme Court established that adults have the constitutional right to
refuse medical treatment. Refusing medical treatment is a
difficult decision and depends on the life circumstances and wishes of
each individual. If the goal is to relieve suffering, sometimes
doing less may be the answer. Every day people make these
decisions for themselves and their loved ones when they decide to
discontinue chemotherapy for the management of their cancer, to forgo
surgery for the fractured hip of an elderly bed-bound patient, to stop
the use of antibiotics for the treatment of recurrent infection in a
terminally-ill patient, to not insert a feeding tube when a person can
no longer swallow or to not utilize a ventilator to mechanically
assist breathing.
We may refuse medical
intervention even if the intervention might prolong our life.
Simply prolonging life may not provide quality of life and relief of
suffering. The decisions we make about the medical care we
receive are personal. They are based on our individual values and
beliefs and the recommendations of our healthcare providers.
The painful dilemma
illuminated by the Terry Schiavo case underscores the need for an
advance directive. An advance directive is a legal document that
allows us to state our preferences for medical care and to appoint a
Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare Decisions. This
document only becomes effective if we are no longer able to make our
own healthcare decisions. The document is readily available and
easy to complete without assistance, but it is a document that needs
to be shared with those we love and trust. The person we appoint as
the Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare Decisions should be
someone we are confident will understand and agree to respect our
goals and wishes for medical treatment. We might choose our
spouse, adult child, or close friend to make our healthcare decisions.
We can also change our advance directives any time circumstances
change.
The conversations we
have with loved ones about our wishes for medical care are just as
necessary as completing an advance directive. It is the essence
of these conversations that will guide us and provide comfort if we
are asked to make healthcare decisions on behalf of someone else.
It is important for all adults 18 years and older to complete an
advance directive, no matter how healthy or young they are. It
is the best way to ensure that our final wishes are clear and will be
honored.
I respectfully suggest
that you and your loved ones set aside time to talk with one another
about your wishes for medical treatment and to complete advance
directives and name a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare
Decisions. Information and samples of advance directives can be
viewed and downloaded from numerous websites, including
www.nhpco.org,
www.agingwithdignity.org,
www.mich.gov, and
www.michbar.org. Forms are
also available at
Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan, 222 North
Kalamazoo Mall, Suite 100, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007 or by calling us at 269-345-0273. We will be happy to answer any
questions you may have about advance directives and how to complete
them.
 
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