Aging Matters

This month’s topic came to mind because I recently attended the funeral in Seattle of a friend’s mother, who had developed Alzheimer’s but had been physically very capable until she had a stroke at Christmas time last year. A dependable crew of certified nursing assistants had looked after her in her home for over three years.

In the last few weeks of her life, the caregivers administered medical treatments that both exceeded what they were professionally credentialed to do and contravened the woman’s wishes. The woman had left very clear instructions preferring not to have life-sustaining treatment and naming her son health care agent. The caregivers wanted to prolong her life; they had become attached to her. The agent had to dismiss the caregivers, and the woman passed away within two days.

Similar events can take place when family members disagree about life-sustaining treatment, such as in the Florida Terri Schiavo case. Regardless of your age, you will be doing yourself and your loved ones a great service to make your wishes known and get them documented. Here are two definitions to help you get started.

Durable Power of Attorney of Health Care: You name someone to make decisions for you about administering or withholding medical care in the event that you can’t make such decisions yourself. You select the agent and state what decisions the person can make for you while you are still able to do so.

Health Care Directive: This directive is also called a ‘living will’ or a ‘directive to physician.’ Again, you complete this document while you are still capable. In it, you state specifically what treatments you do or don’t want in case you become terminally ill or are incapacitated and no longer able to tell health care providers about your wishes with regard to resuscitation, life support, surgeries, and so on.

I’ll mention two comprehensive documents you can use to take action on this topic. The one that seems more broadly user-friendly is Washington state-specific – it combines the two directives in one clear document and lays out for you, step by step, what your options are.

Then it provides for two people unrelated to you and not employed by your health care provider or residential facility to witness the document, and you must get it notarized. This document is put out by Compassion and Choices of Washington; access it and make a $5 contribution at www.candcofwa.org/docs/CandC_Advance_Directive_lrg.pdf.

The other form is called Five Wishes, and it’s a booklet in which you record your wishes about your agent, the kind of medical treatment you do or don’t want; how comfortable you want to be; how you want people to treat you; and what you want your loved ones to know (about your views on death, living, and dying). I got mine from Kitsap County Hospice; it becomes a permanent record, requires witnesses, and does not required notarization.

Bobbie Moore will offer a class, “Getting Wiser about Getting Older,” through Poulsbo Parks and Recreation on six Thursday evenings, beginning April 10. The course will cover topics discussed here as well as others including housing choices, financial planning and transportation options. Call Poulsbo Parks at (360) 779-9898 to register, no later than April 2.

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