Society's Advance Directives Materials Spark Conversations on End-of-Life Decisions
Kane, Pa., is the kind of town where you have to drive to get anywhere—two hours northwest to Erie, two and a half hours southwest to Pittsburgh, or two hours north to Buffalo, NY.
The town of 5,000 clings to the edge of the Allegheny National Forest, which Kenneth R. Langille, MD, a general practitioner in Kane, can see from his back window. The former railroad hub has fallen on hard times as first railroads fell out of favor and then industry moved abroad.
Advance directives don’t get a lot of publicity in places like Kane, except when a highly publicized case has risen to the top of the national conscience. When the media moves on, the questions stop, says Dr. Langille.
To keep the conversation about living wills and health care powers of attorney moving, Dr. Langille distributes literature and posts materials about advance directives from the Pennsylvania Medical Society.
"It’s amazing how much the materials spur interest," Dr. Langille says. "Patients will be sitting there in the office, and they will say, 'What is an advance directive?'"
"It opens the door, especially with a lot of younger people, regarding the importance of living wills and powers of attorney. They really are important, and people just don’t realize it," Dr. Langille says.
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Last Updated: 8/27/2008