Oklahoma Health
Your Health FIRST L
Advantages of Advance Directives By Dr. Gabriel Vidal, MD
et’s face it, it is never easy to write or talk about how we want our medical care to be directed once we cannot make those decisions for our- selves.
I have had dozens of patients who defer to their loved
ones instead of making that decision for themselves. When asked why they would rather postpone the deci- sion, I often get, “Well doc, I don’t want to think about that right now.” The truth is no one knows you as well as yourself. It helps your healthcare team make medical decisions for you when you are not able to do so. It also takes pres- sure off of loved ones because they do not have to guess what your wishes would have been. If it is diffi cult for us to make those decisions while we have a clear mind, imagine what family members would go through while attempting to make those medical decisions for us. For this edition of “Oklahoma Health,” I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Bryan Struck a member of the Donald W. Reynold Department of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and medical director of the Oklahoma City Veterans Administration Medical Center palliative care program. Struck earned his medical degree and Internal Medicine residency from the University of Texas Houston Medical School. After residency, he studied Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
Q: When should someone fi ll out an ad-
vance directive? Advance directives are something that anyone over the age of 18 should fi ll out—regardless of their health status. What the advanced directive does is let the pa- tient tell their families and their doctors how they want to be treated if they get an illness we can’t fi x.
Q: Why should someone fi ll out an ad-
Advance directives help create a healthcare plan.
vance directive? There are a couple of reasons why it is important to
fi ll out an advance directive if you reside in the state of Oklahoma. First, Oklahoma does not have any surroga- cy laws. By that we mean if you are unable to talk to the
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