Soins palliatifs et médecine

Abstrait

Advance Directives in Palliative Care: The French Case

Le Divenah A, Bril I and David S

“Advance directives” are an important tool for documenting the wishes of end-of-life patients who are no longer in a position to take decisions relating to their medical care. In France, the legal status of advance directives was enacted in 2005; the recent update of the project was abandoned due to controversies. This article aims at discussing how such advance directives should be drafted; they are difficult for patients to write precisely because of their health condition. However, they are essential documents for physicians allowing them to take medical decisions in accordance with the will of terminally ill patients. Discussion of such issues during palliative care should help patient state their wishes and their advance directives. Implementing these directives is an important issue under discussion in France.