Do not make loved ones guess about your end-of-life wishes, said Beth Vaughan Cole, U professor of nursing and director of Caring Connections, a grief-counseling program.
Discussing end-of-life issues with family while healthy could avoid high levels of uncertainty and distress, she said at a Living Wills Seminar held at the Salt Lake City Main Library on Oct. 15.
The seminar featured a panel of three professionals who addressed questions regarding medical and legal issues in creating a living will to communicate end-of-life wishes to doctors, attorneys and family.
“Many of us will feel sick enough to die several times in our lives before we die,” said panelist Julien Puzey, coordinator of HealthInsight. “Death has changed, and we must change how we approach it.”
Stephen Bekanich, hospitalist in general internal medicine, and Maureen Henry, executive director of the Utah Commission on Aging, were also panelists.
The panel stressed that the first step in changing the approach to death is talking about it, ensuring that loved ones and medical professionals know your wishes and that the proper legal documents have been filed.
Finding a primary-care physician that you can discuss options for treatment with and having a health proxy that can speak on your behalf is crucial to making sure your wishes are met, Bekanich said.
Another important reason to have a primary-care physician is that “very few things in medicine are free,” and having one physician you can trust allows you to “know the benefits versus the burdens of medical treatment,” he said.
Henry said a living will is too vague to ensure that your wishes are upheld. It is far better to sign a Physician Order for Life Sustaining Treatment directive.
Unlike a living will, the POLST form is signed by a physician and offers specific, detailed wishes on life sustaining treatments that must be honored by paramedics and nursing homes.
Participants at the seminar were given the necessary forms to create a living will, assign a health proxy and file other medical and legal forms, such as the POLST directive.
The participants also had the opportunity to ask questions about the various resources-such as the palliative care program-that are available to answer questions and provide guidance on end-of-life issues.
The seminar was sponsored in part by Caring Connections and the College of Nursing.