How to write a useful living will

Abstract

The aim of this article is helping people who decide to make a Living Will or Advance Directives. In essence, this emphasizes the need to make objective definitions of illnesses and symptoms, and to avoid subjective expressions that would be hard to translate into the assistance field. This way, words like ‘pro-portioned’ or ‘disproportionate’, ‘ordinary’ or ‘extraordinary’, shouldn’t be used due to their difference in meaning in each person. On the contrary, this advocates words that clearly express the patients’ quality of life, such as being unable to recognize their own children or having to stay in bed all day. What’s more, it highlights the importance of stating in this document the fact of keep¬ing or eliminating hydration and nutrition in situations that may create ethical conflicts.