Planning for Uncertainty: Living Wills and Other Advance Directives for You and Your Family

by David John Doukas MD, William Reichel MD

Overview

It won't happen to me.

I'm too busy to worry about a living will.

My family will know what to do.

No one wants to plan for death or incapacitating illness. But, as the emotional legal battle in the Terri Schiavo case made all too clear, people of all ages need to document and communicate clear decisions about the final details of their lives while they are healthy and have time to fully consider their own values and preferences.

Here, Drs. David Doukas and William Reichel help individuals make decisions and communicate their wishes to health care providers and family members and other loved ones.

Drs. Doukas and Reichel use a question-and-answer format to guide readers through the process--emphasizing the crucial connection between values and treatment preferences. They explain advance directives and the health care decision-making process, including the values history, family covenants, proxies, and proxy negation. The appendix includes resources and Web links for learning about advance directive requirements and obtaining legal forms in all fifty states.

This practical guide helps people navigate the important but often intimidating process of thinking about, and planning for, an uncertain future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801886089
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2007
Series:	A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book
Edition description:	second edition
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

David John Doukas, M.D., is the William Ray Moore Endowed Chair of Family Medicine and Medical Humanism, professor and chief of the Division of Medical Humanism and Ethics in the Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine, and a member of the Institute for Bioethics, Health Policy, and Law at the University of Louisville. He is also the chair of the University of Louisville Health Care Ethics Committee. William Reichel, M.D., is an affiliated scholar at the Center for Clinical Bioethics at the Georgetown University School of Medicine.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: What Every Person Needs to Know
1. What the Patient Self-Determination Act Means to You
2. When Is Treatment Beneficial and When Is It Not Beneficial?
3. How Ethical Principles Affect Health Care Decisions
4. The Value of Values
5. How Advance Directives Work
6. The Values History: Defining Your Health Care Values
7. You, Your Family, and Health Care Decisions: Choosing a Proxy
8. Signing Advance Directives
Appendix
Links to Advance Directive Forms by State
Other Useful Links
My Advance Directives for Future Medical Treatment
The Values History
Advance Directive in Brief Card
Index

What People are Saying About This

"As the Terri Schiavo case illustrated, we all need to put our wishes about end-of-life care in writing. Dr. Doukas and Dr. Reichel explain options, describe what doctors can and cannot do, and make an emotionally trying topic manageable. Theirs is the must-have guide to advance directives and living wills."

From the Publisher

As the Terri Schiavo case illustrated, we all need to put our wishes about end-of-life care in writing. Dr. Doukas and Dr. Reichel explain options, describe what doctors can and cannot do, and make an emotionally trying topic manageable. Theirs is the must-have guide to advance directives and living wills.
—Arthur Caplan, Emanuel & Robert Hart Professor of Bioethics and Chair, Department of Medical Ethics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Arthur Caplan

As the Terri Schiavo case illustrated, we all need to put our wishes about end-of-life care in writing. Dr. Doukas and Dr. Reichel explain options, describe what doctors can and cannot do, and make an emotionally trying topic manageable. Theirs is the must-have guide to advance directives and living wills.

Editorial Reviews

A helpful book for planning ahead . . . The authors are two U.S. family physicians who have done an admirable job of putting together some cogent advice for persons planning their health care direction and for the health professionals who might be advising them. Very clear descriptions are presented for the nonprofessional . . . Hospice care is nicely outlined.
--Journal of the American Board of Family Practice

A practical guide to help individuals make end-of-life decisions and communicate them to healthcare providers, family members, and other loved ones.
--UU World

This practical guide helps people navigate the important but often intimidating process of thinking about, and planning for, an uncertain future.
--Exceptional Parent

Valuable resource.
--Columbia College Today

Planning for Uncertainty contacts much helpful information about advance directives and advance care planning.
--Ellen W. Bernal, Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine

Doukas and Reichel achieve two things rarely seen in books geared toward the general public. First, they are uncommonly forthright . . . The second noteworthy achievement of Planning for Uncertainty is its compatibility with the family physician's worldview.
--David Satin, MD, Family Medicine

From the Publisher

This practical guide helps people navigate the important but often intimidating process of thinking about, and planning for, an uncertain future.

Exceptional Parent

Doukas and Reichel achieve two things rarely seen in books geared toward the general public. First, they are uncommonly forthright . . . The second noteworthy achievement of Planning for Uncertainty is its compatibility with the family physician's worldview.

Family Medicine - David Satin

Valuable resource.

Columbia College Today

A practical guide to help individuals make end-of-life decisions and communicate them to healthcare providers, family members, and other loved ones.

UU World

Doukas and Reichel achieve two things rarely seen in books geared toward the general public. First, they are uncommonly forthright... The second noteworthy achievement of Planning for Uncertainty is its compatibility with the family physician's worldview.

— David Satin, MD

Family Medicine

"A helpful book for planning ahead... The authors are two U.S. family physicians who have done an admirable job of putting together some cogent advice for persons planning their health care direction and for the health professionals who might be advising them. Very clear descriptions are presented for the nonprofessional... Hospice care is nicely outlined."

Journal of the American Board of Family Practice

"Planning for Uncertainty contacts much helpful information about advance directives and advance care planning."

Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine - Ellen W. Bernal