California Healthcare Foundation Says Most Californians Don’t Plan For End-Of-Life Care
A new survey released by the California Healthcare Foundation on Wednesday says that 70% of Californians do not put their end-of-life wishes in writing. The survey is part of the Foundation’s efforts to improve end-of-life care in the state.
According to Mark Smith, president and CEO of the CHCF, “California has been a leader in end-of-life issues, including living wills, hospice care, pain management, and physician education for the past 30 years.”
Among the survey results:
· Eighty-three percent of those surveyed said “having their end-of-life wishes in writing is very or somewhat important.” However, only 36 percent actually said they had their wishes in writing in the form of an advance directive or living will.
· Only about half of those surveyed (51 percent) have talked with their loved-ones about such end-of-life issues as whether they would want to be kept alive on life support. Moreover, nearly a quarter (22 percent) of these conversations were just casual conversations or remarks made in passing.
· While 70 percent of all Californians said there are devastating circumstances in which a patient should be allowed to die without heroic life-saving efforts, there were sharp differences in attitudes based on ethnicity. Eighty-three percent of white respondents said patients should be allowed to die in certain situations, but only 52 percent of African-Americans, 53 percent of Latinos, and 66 percent of Asians expressed that view.
· Eighty percent of all respondents said that if they were in a persistent coma with no hope for significant recovery, they would not want to be kept alive on life support. However, a higher percentage of white Americans (87 percent) than African-Americans (72 percent) or Latinos (70 percent) felt this way.
· Sixty-two percent of African-Americans said they are very concerned about finding health care providers who will understand and respect their cultural beliefs and values, contrasted with 35 percent of Latinos and 30 percent of white Americans.
A living will, also called an advanced health care directive is a legal document that explains a person’s wishes regarding their medical care—in the event that they become incapacitated and unable express their own wishes. Drafting a living will is an estate planning matter.
There are two kinds of advanced health care directives. 1) A living will lets you state your wishes but doesn’t name a patient advocate to act on your behalf, and a 2) durable power of attorney for health care, which you allows you to name a patient advocate to carry out your wishes in the event that you become incapacitated.
Questions you should ask yourself when creating your health care directive:
· Who would you like to make treatment decisions for you, if you become unable to so?
· How do you feel about ventilators, surgery, resuscitation (CPR), drugs or tube feeding if you were to become terminally ill? If you were unconscious and not likely to wake up? If you were senile?
· What kind of medical treatment would you want if you had a severe stroke or other medical condition that made you dependant on others for all your care?
· Do you want to receive every treatment your care-givers recommend?
Our attorneys at Sagaria Law, P.C. can help you draft your advance health care directive/living will. We handle estate planning matters in Monterey County, Alameda County, and Santa Clara County, and we have offices in Fremont, San Jose, and Monterey. Contact Sagaria Law, P.C. for a free, no obligation consultation.
Most Californians Have Done Little Planning for End-of-Life Care, Study Finds, Businesswires.com, November 15, 2006
Advance Directives/Living Wills, med.umich.edu
Related Web Resources:
Advanced Health Care Directives, California Coalition For Compassionate Care
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