Advance Directives

The article recommends advance care planning programmes to reduce ambiguity and improve legal certainty for physicians. Structured advance care planning education is described as increasing awareness and confidence among healthcare trainees. The article links low current uptake with substantial intent to complete advance directives soon. Few respondents had a personal advance directive. An advance directive saying the patient did not want to be hooked up to tubes at the end of life was too ambiguous to justify withholding ICU care. German Federal Court rulings require advance directives to use specific and binding language.