The Plot On Advanced Care Directives Is Seeming Even Murkier. Make Sure You Know The True Provenance Before Acting On One!

This appeared last week:Advance care directives frequently written by someone other than the patient About 18% have been completed by someone else, survey shows27th December 2019By Siobhan CalafioreNearly one-fifth of advance care directives (ACD) for end-of-life care are completed by someone other than the patient, putting their legal validity in doubt, a new survey has revealed.Last year, researchers examined the health records held at 15 GP clinics, 27 hospitals and 58 aged care facilities.Among the 4200 patients aged over 65, they found 1100 had a written advance care directive.In most cases, the directives can only be treated as legal documents when written and signed by the individual when they have decision-making capacity. But the researchers from Advance Care Planning Australia said they found 18% of the directives had been completed by someone else, such as a family member or a carer.This figure rose to 30% when it came to the 900 directives of patients in residential aged... This is the initial part of the post - read more by clicking on the title of the article. David.
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - Category: Information Technology Authors: Source Type: blogs