geriatrics
History Taking in the Older Adult
Advance Directives
Patient wishes regarding measures for prolonging life must be documented. Patients are asked what provisions for surrogate decision making ( Advance Directives ) have been made in case they become incapacitated, and if none have been made, patients are encouraged to make them. Getting patients and their surrogates accustomed to discussing goals of care is important because when circumstances require medical decisions and prior documentation is unavailable or not relevant to the circumstance, which is very common, appropriate decisions can be made. 