Backup Plan for Solos: Health Care Decision Making for People Aging Alone

The Citizen's League has just released a 50-page report, Backup Plan for Solos: Health Care Decision Making for People Aging Alone. I was delighted to play a small role. "As people age, they often need assistance with health care decisions. Historically, family members have provided such assistance. It is not always clear who can and will be available to assist those aging alone or to serve as their health decision agents if they cannot speak for themselves. Without a plan or a supportive infrastructure, “solos” are at risk for lack of care, sub-optimal care, or care that goes against their wishes." The Citizens League and its partners challenged the Task Force to discover, analyze, and make recommendations directed at the following overarching goal: "Stimulate the development of a supportive infrastructure to help solo adults, particularly older solo adults, successfully navigate health-related events and, therefore, be less likely to become vulnerable adults—with its accompanying loss of self-determination for the individual and high costs to society."
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs