Kirk R. Daffner’s wife believes that he loves his work too much to ever retire. But Daffner, a practicing neurologist and the clinical director of an Alzheimer’s center, has concerns about his ability to continue working into his 60s. He has seen the terrible toll dementia and cognitive decline can take on professionals. Daffner’s tentative solution is an “occupational living will.” This is a document designed like a medical advanced directive but very specifically tailored for one’s professional life. Part of this overall process involves taking the time to craft a written document that details personal advanced directives for work, dependent on cognitive ability, that represent how you would want to minimally comport yourself in a professional environment. The next step, and possibly the most difficult, is sharing the document with others who you can trust and rely on for continued support. Though this topic can be sobering, Daffner’s motivation stems from a desire to avoid being that older physician who offers mediocre care to patients or embarrasses himself in front of colleagues, damaging a reputation built over decades of dedicated practice.
See Kirk R. Daffner, Reflections of a Dementia Specialist: I Want to Stop Working Before I Embarrass Myself, The Washington Post, April 15, 2018.
Special thanks to Naomi Cahn (Harold H. Greene Professor of Law, George Washington University School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
