Advanced Care Directives
The end of our lives can be so much more meaningful if, like our whole life, we have made choices according to our own personal wishes.
Below are some helpful tools to help you learn about end-of-life choices for you and your loved ones.
Hospice vs. Palliative Care
Both Hospice and Palliative Care help manage your elder’s symptoms (pain, anxiety, fear, delirium) as the goal of care moves from comfort and active treatment to no longer curative. At this stage, a patient may benefit from eliminating arduous trips to the hospital and assuming all care in the home.
There are criteria a patient must meet for 100% Medicare/Medicaid coverage for these services.
Helpful resources below:
Center to Advance Palliative Care
National Hospice/Palliative Care
Dr. Atul Gawande:
A National Treasure
Atul Gawande, MD is a surgeon and public health researcher. He is the author of the famed book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, which addresses our limited medical care for dying patients and their families.
Dr. Gawande recognizes that seriously ill people have more at stake than just prolonging their life. He wants patients to be able to articulate and honor their own priorities--continuing to shape to the story of their life to the very end.