Editing Terminal illness (section)

=== Advance directives ===
At the end of life, especially when patients are unable to make decisions on their own regarding treatment, it is often up to family members and doctors to decide what they believe the patients would have wanted regarding their deaths, which is often a heavy burden and hard for family members to predict. An estimated 25% of American adults have an advance directive, meaning the majority of Americans leave these decisions to be made by family, which can lead to conflict and guilt. Although it may be a difficult subject to broach, it is important to discuss the patient's plans for how far to continue treatment should they become unable to decide. This must be done while the patient is still able to make the decisions, and takes the form of an [[Advance healthcare directive|advance directive]]. The advance directive should be updated regularly as the patient's condition changes so as to reflect the patient's wishes.<ref name="Cancer.org-2017">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cancer.org/treatment/finding-and-paying-for-treatment/understanding-financial-and-legal-matters/advance-directives/faqs.html|title=Frequently asked questions|website=www.cancer.org|access-date=2017-10-30}}</ref><ref name="Mitnick-2010b"/>

Some of the decisions that advance directives may address include receiving fluids and nutrition support, getting blood transfusions, receiving antibiotics, resuscitation (if the heart stops beating), and intubation (if the patient stops breathing).<ref name="NCI-2007">{{Cite web |date=2007-12-18 |title=Last Days of Life |url=https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/advanced-cancer/caregivers/planning/last-days-pdq#section/all |access-date=2017-11-26 |website=National Cancer Institute}}</ref>

Having an advance directive can improve end-of-life care.<ref name="Brinkman-Stoppelenburg-2014"/>

It is highly recommended by many research studies and meta-analyses for patients to discuss and create an advance directive with their doctors and families.<ref name="AHRQ-2017"/><ref name="Brinkman-Stoppelenburg-2014" /><ref name="Qaseem-2008"/>