ADVANCE DIRECTIVES ON A HEALTH CARE PERSPECTIVE. Term Paper

ADVANCE DIRECTIVES ON A HEALTH CARE PERSPECTIVE
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ADVANCE DIRECTIVES ON A HEALTH CARE PERSPECTIVE
Abstract
If there is a right to live, then there is a right to die. Advance directives revolve around these two rights. An individual who is on the brink of his medical condition would not be able to express his desires, whether he desires to live or to die. His desires expand to how he chooses to live or how he chooses to die. Advance directives legalize these desires. Anyone who interferes will have to face charges or proceed to the court. The significance of advance directives lays the foundation of an individual’s right to live or die. It is, therefore, necessary to know and understand the scope of advance directives.
* Introduction
Advance directive pertains to the document/s specifying instructions in spoken and written form regarding an individual’s prospect of medical treatment and healthcare. An individual’s statement of his desires for his medical treatment and health care provides assistance and understanding of the involved parties, such as his doctor, his mental health professional, and/or his family. Advance directives can either allow or prohibit another individual from deciding his medical treatment and health care on his behalf. While it does so, it would not remove his right from deciding which he thinks is best for his welfare. Advance directives will only be utilized, however, once the individual becomes unable to make decisions for himself or if his physician claims he is no longer mentally competent to do so (Applegate et al., 1996; Geller, 2014). If he is under detrimental medical state, but he still functions well and able to express himself, the advance directives will still not be used. That said, this paper aims to discuss the necessary process for advance directives – from developing to executing – so that an individual will be prevented from being misguided. Its necessity plays a crucial role in the decisions he would make, that he can either use or abuse its advance directives. Hence, its brief but thorough documentation will be further discussed in this paper.
* The Process for Advance Directives
There are two focal points in making advance directives. Instruction Directives comprise the first of the focal points, wherein the individual writes his specific desires in print. Every state suggests for an individual to specifically clarify details of his choices, including his medical treatments. The Durable power of Authority for Health Care enacts the second focal point of advance directives. The individual appoints another person – in this case, an agent, surrogate, or a proxy, who is usually referred to as the patient advocate to convey what the said individual could not express himself, although the proxy becomes authorized only when the said individual himself becomes incapacitated. The patient advocate’s authority includes the said individual’s medical treatments and his fiscal issues. A second proxy or another alternative is highly recommended should the first proxy become incapable of enacting the said individual’s wishes in his advance directives on a time-constraint basis. It is duly...