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Death is no subject for baby-boomers
Source: Agencies |
November 17, 2011, Thursday
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MOST people do not want to think about death, much less plan for it, especially when they feel healthy and young in their middle-age years.
Some US baby-boomers say this is a major reason so few of them have end-of-life legal documents.
An Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll found that 64 percent of baby-boomers - those born between 1946 and 1964 - say they do not have a healthcare proxy or living will, documents that would guide medical decisions should a patient be unable to communicate with doctors.
"I am very healthy for my age," said Mary McGee, 53. "So, death and dying is not on my mind a lot."
The same goes for 57-year-old Sandy Morgan.
"You know when they say, '60 is the new 40,' I really believe that," said Morgan, a retired teacher who is working part-time for an executive search firm.
Morgan's parents are still healthy in their early 80s. She says she runs twice a week, practices yoga twice a week and takes part in a rigorous fitness boot camp twice a week. End-of-life decisions are not on her radar. "I just feel like it is something I will probably think about in my late 60s or 70s," she said.
A living will spells out a patient's wishes for medical care if he or she is unable to communicate with doctors. The healthcare proxy, also known as a healthcare power of attorney, allows an individual to select a person he or she trusts to make decisions about medical care should the patient become incapacitated.
Kathy Brandt said living wills and healthcare proxies are a good idea for everyone whether healthy and young or older and not so healthy.
Brandt, a senior vice president at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, said the two documents can spare families a painful fight and ensure patients receive - or do not receive - the medical treatment they wish should they end up in a situation where they cannot speak for themselves.
The living will is not "all or nothing," said Brandt. A person could say he or she wants everything, something or nothing. For example, one person may want heroic measures taken to prolong life, while another may want to be resuscitated but decide against long-term dependence on breathing machines.
Brandt pointed to high-profile cases such as the Florida family fight over Terri Schiavo as a smart reason to draft a living will and healthcare proxy.
At 26, Schiavo collapsed at her home in 1990 with no end-of-life care instructions in writing. Her heart stopped and she suffered what doctors said was irreversible brain damage that left her in a permanent vegetative state. Her husband said his wife would not have wanted to live in a vegetative state but her parents wanted her kept alive.
What ensued was a years-long legal battle that involved dozens of judges in numerous jurisdictions, including the US Supreme Court, and Congress. Schiavo's feeding tube was ordered removed in 2005. She died about two weeks later.
Drafting a living will has not crossed his mind of 61-year-old William Walsh. "I just have not really thought about it. You always think something is going to happen to the other guy, not you."
Some US baby-boomers say this is a major reason so few of them have end-of-life legal documents.
An Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll found that 64 percent of baby-boomers - those born between 1946 and 1964 - say they do not have a healthcare proxy or living will, documents that would guide medical decisions should a patient be unable to communicate with doctors.
"I am very healthy for my age," said Mary McGee, 53. "So, death and dying is not on my mind a lot."
The same goes for 57-year-old Sandy Morgan.
"You know when they say, '60 is the new 40,' I really believe that," said Morgan, a retired teacher who is working part-time for an executive search firm.
Morgan's parents are still healthy in their early 80s. She says she runs twice a week, practices yoga twice a week and takes part in a rigorous fitness boot camp twice a week. End-of-life decisions are not on her radar. "I just feel like it is something I will probably think about in my late 60s or 70s," she said.
A living will spells out a patient's wishes for medical care if he or she is unable to communicate with doctors. The healthcare proxy, also known as a healthcare power of attorney, allows an individual to select a person he or she trusts to make decisions about medical care should the patient become incapacitated.
Kathy Brandt said living wills and healthcare proxies are a good idea for everyone whether healthy and young or older and not so healthy.
Brandt, a senior vice president at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, said the two documents can spare families a painful fight and ensure patients receive - or do not receive - the medical treatment they wish should they end up in a situation where they cannot speak for themselves.
The living will is not "all or nothing," said Brandt. A person could say he or she wants everything, something or nothing. For example, one person may want heroic measures taken to prolong life, while another may want to be resuscitated but decide against long-term dependence on breathing machines.
Brandt pointed to high-profile cases such as the Florida family fight over Terri Schiavo as a smart reason to draft a living will and healthcare proxy.
At 26, Schiavo collapsed at her home in 1990 with no end-of-life care instructions in writing. Her heart stopped and she suffered what doctors said was irreversible brain damage that left her in a permanent vegetative state. Her husband said his wife would not have wanted to live in a vegetative state but her parents wanted her kept alive.
What ensued was a years-long legal battle that involved dozens of judges in numerous jurisdictions, including the US Supreme Court, and Congress. Schiavo's feeding tube was ordered removed in 2005. She died about two weeks later.
Drafting a living will has not crossed his mind of 61-year-old William Walsh. "I just have not really thought about it. You always think something is going to happen to the other guy, not you."
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