Over 60% of respondents agreed that it is better to express their wishes regarding advance directives (treatment preferences in writing, appointment of proxy for care decision making, appointment of legal administrator of property, stating preferences regarding disposal of one's property and funeral arrangements) but less than 10% of them had already done so.
While there is strong recognition of the benefits of undertaking advance directives with over 60% of respondents agreed that it is preferable to express their wishes regarding the appointment of a proxy for care decisions, appointment of a legal administrator of property, stating preferences regarding one's property and funeral arrangements, less than 10% of them had already done so (Table 2).
Questionnaire items include those relating to how they would like their treatment preferences to be made (verbally or in writing), the appointment of a proxy for health care decision-making, and the appointment of a legal executor for dealing with property, and statement of preferences regarding disposal of property and funeral arrangements.
Finally, the patient was provided with a disease certificate and was recommended to start up the procedure of appointment of the legal proxy specifying that the legal proxy must "keep contacts with the health authorities and give informed consent to surgical acts, medical treatments and participation in clinical research".
Since March, Aging With Dignity, a nonprofit group in Florida devoted to supporting end-of-life wishes, has received requests for more than 800,000 copies of its do-it-yourself form, known as Five Wishes, which blends the statement of wishes and the appointment of a medical proxy, a relative or friend with the power to make life-or-death decisions.
In this study we evaluate the timing for appointment of a legal proxy in Italy and identify predictive variables of appointment.
The presence of a care worker in the patient's home slightly increased the chances of appointment of the legal proxy.
In fact, in our study group the number of sons and daughters was a predictive variable of "non appointment" of the legal proxy.
This is compatible with the slightly higher educational level of the patients who started up the procedure of appointment of a legal proxy.
The neurologist illustrated the clinical reasons why a person with dementia may present limitations of the decisional capacity, which may render necessary the appointment of a legal proxy.
We can hypothesise that, due to the complexity and multiple implications of the procedure of appointment of the legal proxy, only some "privileged" categories of patients succeed in achieving it.
