advance directives

Advance decisions and advance statements

People who have been diagnosed with dementia, or who are worried that they may develop dementia in the future, are often concerned about how decisions regarding their medical treatment might be made should they lose the ability to decide for themselves. They may fear that life-sustaining or life-prolonging treatments would be provided long after they were able to achieve a level of recovery, length of life or quality of life that the person would at present consider to be acceptable or tolerable.