living will
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Introduction
- A living will is a witnessed document that specifies a person's wishes should he or she become incapacitated.
- 47 states, excluding New York, Michigan, Massachusetts & the District of Colombia recognize living wills.
- A living will may be revoked at anytime.
- It may not apply if the patient is pregnant with a viable fetus.
- Witnesses must be 18 years of age, not related to the patient, not financially responsible for the patient's medical care, & not entitled to any portion of the patient's estate.
- The attending physician, or an employee of the attending physician, of the hospital or skilled nursing facility may not be a witness.
- Living wills frequently do NOT guide decision-making in hospitalized patients[2].
- However, indivuals with living wills are less likely to die in a hospital vs dying at home or in a nursing home.[2]
- A durable power of attorney may overrule a living will.
- A health care proxy designates a person to make health care decisions if he or she no longer has decision-making capacity[3]
- Advance directive includes a living will & health care proxy
- A last will & testament directs the financial aspects of an estate but does not cover health care decisions[3].
More general terms
Additional terms
References
- ↑ Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program (MKSAP) 11, American College of Physicians, Philadelphia 1998
- ↑ Jump up to: 2.0 2.1 2.2 Degenholtz HB, Rhee Y, Arnold RM. Brief communication: the relationship between having a living will and dying in place. Ann Intern Med. 2004 Jul 20;141(2):113-7. PMID: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15262666
Teno JM. Advance directives: time to move on. Ann Intern Med. 2004 Jul 20;141(2):159-60. No abstract available. PMID: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15262674 - ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 3.2 Geriatric Review Syllabus, 11th edition (GRS11) Harper GM, Lyons WL, Potter JF (eds) American Geriatrics Society, 2022