Introduction

How To Be A Successful Patient • Where To Begin • You and Your Doctor • Cancer treatment • Dealing With Problems • End of Life Issues

Living Will/Advance Directive
Using Hospice

LIVING WILL/ADVANCE DIRECTIVE

Federal law requires that hospitals ask if you have an “Advance Directive”which specifies your health care preferences if you are unable to communicate them yourself. These directives commonly take the form of a “Living Will” or a “Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.” Consult an attorney, hospital social worker, doctor, or nurse for more information.

USING HOSPICE

Hospice care is designed to make patients comfortable in the last stages of their illness. The hospice uses an aggressive approach to pain control, and it helps patients and family deal with the issues that surround death, dying, and grieving.

If your disease is not curable; if you have decided not to have any further treatment; if you are having difficulty taking care of yourself; or if you are having symptoms such as pain and nausea that are difficult to manage, you can ask your doctor to refer you for hospice care. This comprehensive program includes physicians, nurses, social workers, pastoral counselors, and volunteers who can help you either in your home or at a hospice facility.

A physician may need to certify that the illness is terminal (with a life expectancy of six months or less) before a hospice accepts a patient.