Typically, the KERA Health Checkup looks at subjects about maintaining your health. But in connection with National Healthcare Decisions Day, we look at advance planning for terminal illness. Sam ...

As an emergency physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, I see patients with life-threatening diseases every day. Often, it would be helpful to understand a patient’s individual wishes about their medical ...

No one likes to think about worst-case scenarios, particularly when it comes to their future health problems, and what could happen in the event they are unable to make their own health care decisions ...

More and more Americans say they want a “good” death, which usually means dying peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones. Documents called advance directives can help them achieve that goal by ...

Columns share an author’s personal perspective. Life is a terminal condition; everyone who lives eventually dies. So medicine’s role is not just to treat and possibly cure diseases, but to improve the ...

I had hoped that by now most adults in this country would have completed an advance directive for medical care and assigned someone they trusted to represent their wishes if and when they are unable ...

Terri Schiavo's family probably never imagined the decisions they would have to make regarding her care. But the court battle surrounding this 41-year-old woman, who was in a vegetative state since a ...

Healthy adults may give little thought to injuries or illnesses. When the going is good, it is easy to forget about the less pleasant side effects of aging. However, putting off these conversations ...

It’s a common hope that most people share: that their end-of-life wishes will be respected if something happened and they couldn’t make their own health care decisions. Yet only about a third of ...

It is never too early to discuss care preferences for patients with Alzheimer disease or other dementias. Alzheimer disease is a life-limiting disease with a median survival time from diagnosis of 4.2 ...

Medical emergencies and unexpected health crises can occur at any age. Advance care planning encourages people to consider potential future scenarios and plan accordingly, even if they’re young and ...

An advance directive can be a crucial document when it comes to estate planning and preparing yourself for potential medical complications. If you live in California and you’re considering creating an ...