Advance Directive Initiative- St. Johnsbury, VT

Janardhan, Arjun

Item

Advance Directive Initiative- St. Johnsbury, VT

Janardhan, Arjun

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Abstract

Valuable time is frequently lost during end of life care or in the unforeseen circumstance of severe injury or illness when a patient does not have appropriate advance care planning. While end of life care costs continue to increase in an aging U.S. population, only 26% of U.S. healthcare consumers have completed Advance Directives (ADs). One of the key barriers to increased participation and awareness continues to be lack of patient education. Due to the complicated terminology often used in these legal documents, one essential component of the AD initiative at St. Johnsbury Community Health Center is creating a simple and effective handout to improve patient education.