John Oliver Esq. Presenting at the UVA Psychiatric Advance Directive Training Conference
Full video HERE
Professor Richard Bonnie JD, Presenting at the UVA Psychiatric Advance Directive Training Conference
Full video
HERE
Pamphlets
For an excellent Q&A guide on the Advance Directive, click here
For a copy of the pamphlet, “Your Right to Decide”, click here
For a pamphlet entitled “Five Wishes”, which provides an alternative “Living Will” for giving directions about end-of-life care only, but which explores in more depth the issues surrounding end-of-life decisions, go to this page on the web site of the “Aging with Dignity” organization.
Power Point Presentations
For an excellent Power Point presentation from the Virginia Attorney General’s Office on the use of the Advance Directive in the mental health context, which summarizes law and practice regarding Advance Directives, substitute decision-making, determining capacity, and providing treatment over protest (reflecting the state of the law in 2009), click here.
For an excellent Power Point presentation on the nature and use of Advance Directives from the point of view of the mental health care provider, with a review of how the “Psychiatric Advance Directive” (PAD) has been used successfully in other states, and has been found to be consistent with sound clinical practice, click here .
Great Websites
The Virginia State Bar website has an excellent section that provides a pdf version of the Advance Directive form, a Q&A guide on the Advance Directive, and links to a variety of educational websites that provide information on advance directives and health care planning and decision-making.
The Virginia Hospital and Health Care Association website has both a pdf version of the Advance Directive and a pdf version of the pamphlet, “Your Right to Decide” .
At the Martha Jefferson Hospital website you’ll find a pdf version of the advance directive that differs in a couple of important respects from the “suggested” form in the Virginia Code. Section III, which is entitled “Health Care Instructions” in the suggested form, is re-titled in the Martha Jefferson Hospital form as “Guidelines For My Agent About My Treatment Choices”, and it contains much more specific statements about your health care options that you can choose to adopt. In addition, the hospital’s section on organ donations is much more specific than the suggested form (or any other form currently available), and gives you much more concrete guidance in making decisions about organ donation. The site also has an explanation of the advance directive in a question-and-answer format, and it recommends, and includes for your use, a wallet card that you can fill out to show that you have an advance directive. (This form was developed by Martha Jefferson Hospital, in partnership with the University of Virginia Health System.)
The Virginia chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI Virginia) has a web page devoted to advance directives. That web page provides links to different advance directive forms, as well as to guides on health care planning and decision-making, and it includes a number of links to sites and programs that provide education and support services for persons with mental illness. You can access this portion of the NAMI Virginia site by clicking here.
The National Healthcare Decisions Day website is is part of an effort to promote the use of advance directives nationwide. For 2010, April 16 has been designated as National Healthcare Decisions Day. The website has a wealth of educational materials about advance directives and healthcare decision-making, and provides links to websites in every state in the nation regarding advance directives.
The National Resource Center on Psychiatric Advance Directives website is a treasure trove of information and help. The site has comprehensive information on Psychiatric Advance Directives (PAD’s), in a variety of forms and formats, ranging from general educational materials to webcasts providing detailed information on what PAD’s are and how they can be made and used. There is a review of applicable state and federal law, and information on the availability and use of PAD’s in every state. This site is a great resource for consumers, for interested family and friends, and for medical and legal professionals. , and access to PAD forms.
The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health has an outstanding website on end-of-life care and decision-making for persons with mental illness. It is part of a program called “Do It Your Way”, “an innovative mental health-hospice and palliative care partnership to integrate end-of-life care planning into the mental health planning process.” You can access the website by clicking here.
As noted above, the Aging With Dignity website includes guidance on end-of-life decision-making and other issues facing older persons.
The Peer-to-Peer program, sponsored by NAMI Virginia, is “an experiential learning program for people with any serious mental illness who are interested in establishing and maintaining their wellness and recovery”. Participants in that program are given help in developing their own Psychiatric Advance Directive You can find more information about the program by clicking here.