A taboo in healthcare; life support decisions at the terminal stage

• Main Authors: Adem Ozkara, Hilal Aksoy, Turgay Albayrak, İrfan Sencan, Esra Meltem Koc
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SERNEV 2018-04-01
• Series: Family Practice and Palliative Care
• Subjects: sağlık hizmetleri erişilebilirliği; gelişmiş sağlık direktifleri; karar verme; yaşam vasiyeti; terminal bakım; health services accessibility; advance directives; decision making; living wills; terminal care
• Online Access: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/fppc/issue/36461/337752

Public who are the target audience of health care system need to be actively involved in the system for more effective health care provision. Advance directives which are the important examples of participation in treatment decisions are written documents that, in the situation of a serious illness, either clarify an individual's wishes for health care or determine a person to make health care decisions for that individual who becomes unable to do so. Living wills, health care power of attorney, directive of do-not-resuscitate, withholding of life support and withdrawing of life support are included in advance directives. Advance directives are being implemented in the United States of America (USA) and some European countries. The legal status of advance directives vary by country. There is no data on the use and writing of advanced directives in our country. It is necessary to start discussing about people's decisions on terminal care and implementations by analyzing the material and moral broughts of patient care at the end of life in both individual and social terms.