Advance Directive Conference

DESCRIPTION
Who should make health care treatment decisions when a patient is unable to make decisions on their own behalf? The State of Illinois provides several mechanisms for identifying who should make treatment decisions in these circumstances, each with its own conditions and limitations. These mechanisms include the Living Will; the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care; the Illinois Mental Health Treatment Declaration; the Illinois Health Care Surrogate Act; and the State of Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission.

This conference will provide an understanding of these mechanisms, when each applies, and what limits each mechanism has. In addition, the conference will examine how advance directives affect patient care; problems which arise in helping patients to fill out an advance directive; and common "legal" questions about advance directives and their application.

OBJECTIVES
How do advance directives help to identify the goals of treatment?
What if the agent named in a patient's Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (DPA) must leave town for a few days, and designates another person to act as agent while he or she is out of town?
What if a patient has both a Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, and provides instructions for the agent named in the DPA which conflict with the Living Will? (for example, the Living Will indicates they do not want life-prolonging treatment, and the instruction for the agent in the DPA indicate "I want my life to be prolonged to the greatest extent possible without regard to my condition, the chances I have for recovery or the cost of the procedures".)
Are advance directives from another State valid in Illinois?
What qualifies as a valid advance directive? (Does a hand-written note qualify? What if there is no signature from a witness?)
Does the decision of an agent named in a DPA take precedence over a State-appointed guardian?
What if a family claims that an advance directive exists but they cannot find the document?
What if a sixteen or seventeen year old patient has a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care?
Can more than one agent be named in a DPA (for example, can two children be named as co-agents?)

TARGET AUDIENCE
All physicians, nurses, administrators, ethics committee members, and other health care professionals interested in ethics consultation. This workshop will be of particular interest to administrators and ethics committee members undertaking or beginning ethics consultation or case review.

PRESENTATIONS/SPEAKERS
"Psycho-Social Issues for End-of0Life Decisions." - Richard Dayringer, Th.D.
Professor of Medical Humanities, Southern Illinois University, Scool of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois.

"Legal Aspects of Advance Directives." - Theodore LeBlang, J.D.
Professor and Chairman, Department of Medical Humanities Southern Illinois University, School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois.

"Advance Directives: The Basics." - Thomas May, Ph.D.
Director, Clinical Ethics Center, Memorial Medical Center and Southern Illinois University, School of Medicine, Sprinfield, Illinois.

"Illinois Health Care Surrogate Act." - Bethany Spielman, Ph.D., J.D.
Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities, Southern Illinois University, School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois.

"Counseling Families about End-of-Life." - Gary W. Sproat, M.Div., BCC
Director, Pastoral Care, Memorial Medical Center, Springfield, Illinois.

"Mental Health Treatment Declaration." - John Tomkowiak, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Southern Illinois University, School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois, and Vice-Chairman, Human Values and Ethics Committee, Memorial Medical Center, Springfield, Illinois.

"Guardianship." - Aletha Turner, MSW
Regional Administrator, East Central Office, Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission, Decatur, Illinois.

"Advance Directives and Patient Care." - Andrew Varney, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine and Medical Humanities, and Director, Residency Program, Southern Illinois University, School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois, and Chairman, Human Values and Ethics Committee, Memorial Medical Center, Springfield, Illinois.

Medical Humanities
Clinical Ethics Center at Memorial Medical Center

Clinical Ethics Center- CEC

Human Values & Ethics Committee - HVEC

SAGE - Southern Illinois Advisory Group for Ethics

Illinois Advance Directives

SIU Medical Humanities

Memorial Medical Center

Contact Information

$SIU School of Medicine\$
	Medical Humanities Clinical Ethics Center at Memorial Medical Center

Medical Humanities Clinical Ethics Center at Memorial Medical Center