Alzheimer’s? Your Paperwork May Not Be in Order

It is highly recommended for all adults to write out a medical advance directive to carry out their wishes when they can no longer speak for themselves. Only a third of Americans have completed this document. Many of those directives may have been standard forms and therefore insufficient in cases of advanced dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Judith Schwarz, clinical director of End of Life Choices New York, notes that patients with these conditions “cannot determine and effectively communicate what they do and do not want done for them.” Directions for when to stop life-prolonging care must be made clear in advance and the majority of states’ forms do not contain those choices.

See Jane E. Brody, Alzheimer’s? Your Paperwork May Not Be in Order, New York Times, April 30, 2018.

Special thanks to Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.