Hollister, CA: POLST, Advanced Health Care Directive Can Speak Up For You When You Can"t Speak For Y
Hollister, CA: POLST, Advanced Health Care Directive Can Speak Up For You When You Can't Speak For Yourself: View From A Private Duty Caregiver Serving, Carmel, Carmel Valley, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gilroy, Gonzalez, Greenfield, Hollister, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, San Juan Bautista, Seaside & Soledad California
An opinion column written by Dr. Pauline Chen in the New York Times said that the way Doctors and patients approach medical decisions has changed sharply over the past 50 years. For generations, these decisions were the exclusive purview of Doctors. Patients often didn't participate at all in tough decisions about their lives. However, that paternalistic decision-making process began to change in the late 1960's and 1970's as movements calling for patient empowerment grew and medical ethicists began articulating principles regarding the ethical care of patients. One tenet that gained momentum with clinicians was respect for the person, which eventually led to patient-centered care. Autonomy, or letting patients make their own decisions, also started to come into favor. Dr. Chen said that for the next 40 years, young Doctors, including herself, were taught to restrain themselves from making anything but emergency or mundane decisions for patients. However, a new study reveals that too much physician restraint may not be good for the patient and might even be unethical. Researchers interviewed more than 8,000 hospitalized patients at the University of Chicago and two-thirds of respondents preferred that their Doctors make the final decisions regarding their medical care. The situation becomes very confusing when it's not clear what the best treatment option is and the patient and their families are unable to make a decision. In the meantime, the person may be suffering. "We have to stop drawing a circle around patients and their families, Dr. Farr Curtin, one of the authors of the study said. "We have to stop subjecting them to the loneliness and burden of autonomy and instead begin standing in that circle with them," said Dr. Curtin. I have written many times on my blog about a wonderful organization called Partners For Transitions which can help plan for the end of life. This includes preparing a living trust, a will, Advanced Health Care Directive, POLST and other documents which can spell out in detail what medical measures you want to be implemented if you are in a critical situation. Let these documents speak for you when you can't speak up for yourself.
[http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/letting-doctors-make-the-tough-decisions/?ref=health]
http://partnersfortransitions.com/
About Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:
An opinion column written by Dr. Pauline Chen in the New York Times said that the way Doctors and patients approach medical decisions has changed sharply over the past 50 years. For generations, these decisions were the exclusive purview of Doctors. Patients often didn't participate at all in tough decisions about their lives. However, that paternalistic decision-making process began to change in the late 1960's and 1970's as movements calling for patient empowerment grew and medical ethicists began articulating principles regarding the ethical care of patients. One tenet that gained momentum with clinicians was respect for the person, which eventually led to patient-centered care. Autonomy, or letting patients make their own decisions, also started to come into favor. Dr. Chen said that for the next 40 years, young Doctors, including herself, were taught to restrain themselves from making anything but emergency or mundane decisions for patients. However, a new study reveals that too much physician restraint may not be good for the patient and might even be unethical. Researchers interviewed more than 8,000 hospitalized patients at the University of Chicago and two-thirds of respondents preferred that their Doctors make the final decisions regarding their medical care. The situation becomes very confusing when it's not clear what the best treatment option is and the patient and their families are unable to make a decision. In the meantime, the person may be suffering. "We have to stop drawing a circle around patients and their families, Dr. Farr Curtin, one of the authors of the study said. "We have to stop subjecting them to the loneliness and burden of autonomy and instead begin standing in that circle with them," said Dr. Curtin. I have written many times on my blog about a wonderful organization called Partners For Transitions which can help plan for the end of life. This includes preparing a living trust, a will, Advanced Health Care Directive, POLST and other documents which can spell out in detail what medical measures you want to be implemented if you are in a critical situation. Let these documents speak for you when you can't speak up for yourself.
[http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/letting-doctors-make-the-tough-decisions/?ref=health]
http://partnersfortransitions.com/
About Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:
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