When: Wednesday, March 22 at 10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET.
When older adults lack the capacity to make important health care decisions for themselves and have nothing in writing naming a person to make decisions for them, how can the right health care decisions be made in clinical settings? Over the past 40 years, nearly every state has passed statutes on health care decision-making. The laws vary from state-to-state, from authorizing living wills or powers of attorney for health care to defining the conditions when withholding or withdrawing life sustaining care is permitted for patients who lack capacity.
Despite years of legal guidance, questions remain regarding the statutory applicability in clinical practice. In 2016, the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging (ABA COLA) initiated a national survey to explore health care clinicians’ perspectives on questions regarding capacity and decision-making. Findings explore instances when the law and clinical practice clearly align, when there are consultation differences between lawyers and clinical providers, and outline the areas that still present the greatest challenges for health care decision making in clinical settings.
In this webinar, David Godfrey, Senior Attorney to the ABA COLA, details the survey findings and implications for the health and aging network working with older adults with diminished capacity. The webinar is accompanied by an Issue Brief that highlights the survey findings and provides recommendations for the field.
Presenter:
David Godfrey, Senior Attorney, American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging
The webinar took place on Wednesday, March 22 at 10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET.
WATCH THE WEBINAR
DOWNLOAD THE POWERPOINT
READ THE ISSUE BRIEF
