Orshe

Not only is it tough to think about what kind of care you would want at the end of your life; it can be difficult even to imagine what the circumstances might be like. Yet it’s important to consider these things while we’re healthy, so we can decide how we want to be cared for if we become too sick to speak up for ourselves.

A group of researchers in Boston tested the effects of showing adults age 65 and older a video of a woman with advanced dementia — a loss of cognitive function so severe that it often leaves people unable to speak or walk. You can watch the video here and make a pretty good guess at what the researchers found.

Compared with people who heard only a verbal explanation, those who watched the video were more likely to say that they wanted only comfort care if they developed advanced dementia, as opposed to more aggressive care aimed at prolonging life.

Angelo Volandes, the Mass General doc who was the study’s first author, told the Boston Globe that the goal is to give patients a clearer idea of what to expect, not to get them choose one option or another. “For me the correct answer is the answer the patient gives me when they are fully informed to make the decision,” he said.

The study appears in the current BMJ.

Photo: iStockphoto

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Watch Advanced-Dementia Video, Then Make a Decision