Sunday, August 7, 2005
Advanced care planning for those with serious mental illnesses
The May 2005 issue of Psychiatric Services has an article about advanced care planning interests & preferences of those with serious mental illnesses . This is, the authors believe, the first article looking at the a.c.p. needs of this population. What is interesting, although I suppose it shouldn't be that interesting, is how straight-forward and common this population's end of life concerns were: pain & suffering, financial problems, effects on loved-ones, etc. Compared with a non-seriously-mentally-ill population they were a little more concerned with a proxy making life & death decisions for them, as well as less likely to name a family member as a proxy.
