VTAD Week 2026:
Start planning today! Vermont Advance Directive Week: April 12-18 | National Health Care Decisions Day: April 16
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Decision-Making Articles & Resources
Resources
Articles
Vermont Public, Advance Directive Segments 2025
Vermont Public's Mikaela LeFrak and Nina Keck featured the importance of advance care planning conversations and advance directives as a part of the 'In Good Health' series. Read/listen to their interviews with Vermont clinicians and Vermont Ethics Network Executive Director, Cindy Bruzzese.
ListenHow to Make End-of-Life Planning Less Stressful (NYT Article, March 8, 2024)
One tip: Do it over chocolate cake. Advice for end-of-life planning and starting difficult conversations from NYT and Well Newsletter correspondent Jancee Dunn. Click to read the full article.
Read MoreNew 2022 VT DNR/COLST Form: New Form for Clinician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment
On June 1, 2022, the new VT DNR/COLST form takes effect. All new orders should be completed on this form if possible, although orders on previously approved VT DNR/COLST forms remain legal and valid. Learn more about the updated form and best practices for clinicians completing these orders by watching our Information Session video and reviewing the accompanying slide deck. The form is available for download here, and on our Forms page.
Read MoreWould I Give Aducanumab to My Mother? (The Hastings Center)
June 14, 2021: Aducanumab has just been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to slow the progress of Alzheimer's disease. It is likely that many people who are candidates for the drug will no longer be competent to make their own health care decisions, and will be relying heavily on others to make the decision with them or for them.
Read ArticleSizing Up the Decisions of Older Adults
May 19, 2022: (New York Times, 2022) A new training tool helps to assess whether some seniors can make informed choices about their own care and well-being. Adult Protective Services agencies in every state receive reports of possible neglect, self-neglect, abuse or exploitation of older people and other vulnerable adults. But agency workers consistently face a bedeviling question: Does the adult in question have the capacity to make a decision about their medical care, living conditions or finances — even if it’s not the decision that the family, doctor or financial adviser thinks should be made?
Read ArticleNational Healthcare Decision Day - Why me?
April 14, 2021: Brattleboro Reformer (Op-Ed)
Read ArticlePodcast Highlights Innovations for Advance Care Planning
August 31, 2020: End of Life University
Read and ListenA Matter of Heart: A Father’s Reflections on Advance Care Planning
June 10, 2019: The Conversation Project
ReadGiving Patients a Voice in Their Mental Health Care Before They're Too Ill to Have a Say
December 3, 2018: The New York Times
Read Article'Aggressive' New Advance Directive Would Let Dementia Patients Refuse Food
March 30, 2018: Kaiser Health News
ReadAdvance Care Planning: What Happens If You Can’t Speak for Yourself?
April 14, 2017: University of Vermont Medical Center Blog
ReadIf I End Up On Life Support, My Family Knows The Type Of Long, Protracted Legal Battle I Would Want
February 25, 2015: The Onion
ReadDr. Atul Gawande talks on advance care planning and his new book, Being Mortal
October 6, 2014: Comedy Central
WatchDie the Way You Want To: Taking charge of your last days eases everyone's burden
January 2012: Harvard Business Review
ReadInformed Patient: Advance Directives Cut Unwanted Hospitalizations
October 24, 2011: Wall Street Journal
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