A will alone is not a way
By Josh Fischman
Americans began ordering good deaths last week. At Aging with Dignity, an advocacy group that offers living-will forms, "our phones have been lighting up like crazy. We've been getting about 4,000 requests each day ever since the Schiavo case hit the headlines, and normally we get 100 or less," says James Herzog, the group's communications coordinator.
But for many, it's not going to help. "Living wills often do not work. I've been appalled at the number of people who are saying, 'Go online, sign the forms, and everything will be all right,'" says Carl Schneider, a law professor and specialist in bioethics at the University of Michigan. Living wills are ignored and misunderstood both by family members and by doctors, research has shown. Even Paul Malley, Aging with Dignity's president, agrees this is a problem: "It's not enough to fill out a document. You need to do a lot more to back it up."
The trouble is that paper forms are often vaguely worded and leave people confused. For instance, one study of just over 9,000 seriously ill patients at five different hospitals found that advance directives didn't result in more accurate decisions about resuscitation.
More talk. That's why experts say that picking a healthcare agent, someone legally empowered to make decisions about your care, is another essential part of the process. Malley emphasizes that "you need to talk to your surrogate, because they'll be making decisions for you. The trouble is these conversations are hard. Death is a taboo topic." If you bluntly say, 'Dad, do you want to be on a respirator, yes or no?' it's not going to get a good response. But a more open approach, saying, "I want to know what's important to you," will produce a better dialogue. (Malley's group offers a pamphlet about such conversations, "Next Steps," along with a form that combines a living will with selection of a healthcare agent, at agingwithdignity.org ).
Joanne Lynn, a physician who did some of the original research on living wills, thinks they work best if part of this multipronged process--and when you tell your family and doctors that you have one. Many people quietly lock them away in a drawer, locking their wishes away as well.
More living-will resources are at usnews.com/livingwill.
By Josh Fischman
Americans began ordering good deaths last week. At Aging with Dignity, an advocacy group that offers living-will forms, "our phones have been lighting up like crazy. We've been getting about 4,000 requests each day ever since the Schiavo case hit the headlines, and normally we get 100 or less," says James Herzog, the group's communications coordinator.
But for many, it's not going to help. "Living wills often do not work. I've been appalled at the number of people who are saying, 'Go online, sign the forms, and everything will be all right,'" says Carl Schneider, a law professor and specialist in bioethics at the University of Michigan. Living wills are ignored and misunderstood both by family members and by doctors, research has shown. Even Paul Malley, Aging with Dignity's president, agrees this is a problem: "It's not enough to fill out a document. You need to do a lot more to back it up."
The trouble is that paper forms are often vaguely worded and leave people confused. For instance, one study of just over 9,000 seriously ill patients at five different hospitals found that advance directives didn't result in more accurate decisions about resuscitation.
More talk. That's why experts say that picking a healthcare agent, someone legally empowered to make decisions about your care, is another essential part of the process. Malley emphasizes that "you need to talk to your surrogate, because they'll be making decisions for you. The trouble is these conversations are hard. Death is a taboo topic." If you bluntly say, 'Dad, do you want to be on a respirator, yes or no?' it's not going to get a good response. But a more open approach, saying, "I want to know what's important to you," will produce a better dialogue. (Malley's group offers a pamphlet about such conversations, "Next Steps," along with a form that combines a living will with selection of a healthcare agent, at agingwithdignity.org ).
Joanne Lynn, a physician who did some of the original research on living wills, thinks they work best if part of this multipronged process--and when you tell your family and doctors that you have one. Many people quietly lock them away in a drawer, locking their wishes away as well.
More living-will resources are at usnews.com/livingwill.
Its getting to be to invaulded just to die. |oo ..Damn lawyers :MAD 
