Helping people plan their end of life

In his response to Yorganci and Sleeman’s article on the benefits of palliative care for people with dementia,1 Chivers highlights the concerning disconnect between what people want at the end of life and what they have done to prepare, and the effects this can have on the treatment and care they ultimately receive.2 We know—from a YouGov poll that Compassion in Dying commissioned in 2020 (n=2026 adults)—that 76% of people have strong wishes regarding their end of life and only 10% of the population want doctors to make the final decision about their treatment. But only 7% of people communicate these wishes in advance.The people who contact Compassion in Dying’s information line have taught us that there is common misunderstanding about end-of-life planning, and this creates barriers to people considering and recording their wishes. Many people wrongly think that an advance decision to refuse treatment form and lasting power of…
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