The Latest Advice for Living Will Protection - Concern's Three-Pronged Strategy to Make Sure All of Your Treatment Decisions are Honored

Sep 29, 2026

A patient-focused strategy explains how to protect end-of-life choices through two legally grounded documents and clear, specific instructions. It emphasizes updating a Living Will to reflect new treatment technologies and personal medical history, including guidance on artificial nutrition and hydration and feeding-tube support. It further recommends signing a Durable Power of Attorney to appoint a trusted decision-maker and ensure complete understanding, discussion, and coverage when situations arise not explicitly addressed in the Living Will.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

The Three-Pronged Strategy

1. Make the Living Will specific

2. Reinforce with a Durable Power of Attorney

# Practitioners ShareTreatment ExperiencesAt Collab Weekend Faculty member Dr.Youngner,left,pursues a pointwith Collab participant Dr.Nicolas Argy. The first Collab Weekend given solely forpractitioners seemed to "hit the ground run-ning."Even as participants introducedthemselves in the first meeting,treatmentissues were brought to the fore,positionsoutlined and challenges thrown down:theseskilled professionals from nursing,law,medicine,social work,hospital administra-tion and chaplaincy were eager to work,share,explore,question. The conference,"Terminal Care:Con-sultations on Clinical and Policy Prob-lems,"was held September 12 through 15at the Granlibakken Resort in Tahoe City,CA,and co-sponsored by Concem withThe Center for Biomedical Ethics of CaseWestern Reserve University School ofMedicine and the Department of Nursingat George Washington University MedicalCenter. On paper,the program may not havelooked very different from previous Col-labs.Faculty members were scheduled to (continued on page 4) # The Latest Advice for Living Will Protection:Concern's Three-Pronged Strategy to Make SureAll of Your Treatmnent Decisions are Honored As Concern supporters,readers of thisNewsletter enjoy unique privileges—and,it logically follows,some extremelyimportant responsibilities. In the first place,as will be discussedbelow,you have immediate access to themost recent and informed legal advice con-cerning the implementation of your treat-ment wishes.Have new techniques affectedyour Living Will?Has new state legislationstrengthened,weakened,broadened orrestricted your rights?What is the best pro-tection as of this moment?This article sumsup the current situation and lays down theguidelines developed by experts in law,ethics and medical care. Secondly,we think you have the respon-sibility—we all do—to take this informa-tion in hand and make sure that it gets widecirculation.Of course,you want yourrelatives,your friends and everyone youknow to find out how to protect themselvesrom unwanted treatment.But maybe youhesitate.. We say:Tarry no longer!Below is adiscussion that should be shown,debated,Xeroxed,left on doorsteps,taped to a rear-view mirror or in any way you devise madeavailable right now. Here,in short,is the up-to-the-minute self-defense guide to making certain that IN THIS ISSUE. ·How does the new tax law affect yourgift-giving to Concem?…Se0 p.2 before December 311 ·How dld the strange ordeal ofMaseachusotte flrofighterPaul Brophy finally and?…See p.3,Actlon in the Courts ·What are the most recent ideae in theongoing discusalon of care for theterminally用?…Sp.8,Library Shell your rights are respected at the end of life: ## The Three-Pronged Strategy 1.First,you must take care that your Liv-ing Will is specific in light of new treatmenttechnology and your own medical history.Do you,for example,not want antibioticsadministered under certain conditions?Sayso,explicitly,on your Living Will.Arethere,on the other hand,treatments that,if rendered incompetent,you definitely dowant?Say that,too.Your first line ofdefense is explicitness. In that vein,you will want to pay specialattention to the most divisive issue intoday's treatment of the terminally ill:whether or not to withhold or withdrawartificial nutrition and hydration.The issueis being debated on ethical and legalgrounds,but,so far as you are concerned,you have the right to decide the issue inyour own case.If rendered incompetent orifyou fall into a permanent vegetative state,do you want to be sustained by artificiallyadministered food and water?Protect yourguardians,your family members and yourhealth-care givers by setting down youranswer on the Living Will in no uncertainterms.Maybe you'll have to do someresearch or just discuss the possibilitieswith your physician.Then you can writeexactly what you want or do not want.Thetechnological sophistication of artificialfeeding techniques has brought a com-plicating factor that you must address.Onc

FAQs

What does the strategy require for a Living Will?

It requires that the Living Will be specific in light of new treatment technology and the individual’s medical history, including explicit statements about antibiotics and about withholding or withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration.

Why is a Durable Power of Attorney recommended in addition to a Living Will?

It appoints someone responsible for fulfilling the patient’s wishes if the patient cannot make decisions, and it helps handle situations where the Living Will may not explicitly address a future decision.

What key issue should be addressed regarding terminal care decisions?

Whether to withhold or withdraw artificial nutrition and hydration, including making clear wishes about sustaining the patient via a feeding tube or similar equipment.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by mieayamfan