ABSTRACT

As citizens of ageing societies increasingly face chronic diseases in later life, treatment decisions are often complicated by the loss of the cognitive capacities to make autonomous decisions. Therefore, an increasing number of citizens want to prepare and plan for these decisions. So far, they have mostly used the advance directive (living will), which, however, has largely proven ineffective. A new concept that promises to be more effective is Advance Care Planning. In this article, I explain its rationale and practice, discuss its ethical and social ramifications, and sketch the way to develop this model further in the future.