Patients have the right to manage their own health care decisions, to accept or refuse medical treatment, and ultimately make advance directives. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in a 2011 report, noted that less than 33% of older adults have completed advance directives and often these advance directives are not part of the electronic medical record. Learn more about advance directives and tips on how to have discussions with older adults about these documents.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2011). Elders’ preferences for end-of-life care are not captured by documentation in their medical records. Research Activities. http://archive.ahrq.gov/news/newsletters/research-activities/jun11/0611RA25.html
Crosby, J.T. (2015). Advance Care Planning Discussions: A step-by-step guide with verbal options. Annals of Long-Term Care (September): 28-32.
House, T. & Lach, H.W. (2014). Advance directives in hospitalized patients: A retrospective cohort study. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners 10 (7): 465-471.
Tulsky, J. (2015). Beydon advance directives, importance of communication skills at the end of life. Journal of American Medical Association 294(3):359-366.