• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.639-649
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• 2014

Purpose: This study evaluates the feasibility of Korean Advance Directives (K-AD) developed earlier. Method: From January 1 to February 28, 2013, data were collected from 330 adults through a self-reported questionnaire established by the authors based on literature review and expert consultation. The feasibility of K-AD was multi-dimensionally evaluated through four criteria: cognitive, psychological, document making and socially expecting aspects. Data were analyzed using t tests, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffe post hoc tests via the SAS 9.1.3 program. Results: The feasibility of K-AD differed significantly by gender (p=.003), educational level (p<.001), religion (p=.002), and self-reported health status (p=.039). Differences in the level of easiness with K-AD by gender (p=.008) and education (p=.047) were significant. Perceived simplicity of AD differed significantly by religion (p=.005), and the necessity of AD differed significantly by gender (p=.025) and religion (p=.005). Conclusion: K-AD are sufficiently feasible to be tentatively utilized in practice. This is the first study to explore the feasibility of K-AD on the basis of multiple aspects. However, further studies involving diverse populations and methodologies to validate the usefulness of K-AD are warranted.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.413-459
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• 2008

The Law has intervened to define rare circumstances in which a person should choose continuing life in United States. On the one hand, the law has traditionally acted to preservelife and to respect the sanctity of life. On the other hand, one's control over one's own body, and the right to determine what kind of medical care one will receive, is equally well respected and historically grounded. The competent patients have the right to forgo life-sustaining treatment, courts in United States have left many unanswered questions about the nature of that right. The right to choose to forgo life-sustaining treatment is a manifestation of a patient's autonomy interest. In United States, The Karen Quilan case gave rise to legislative activity in the host of state capitals, and several states had adopted statutes that formally recognized some forms of written directives describing some circumstances in which certain kinds of medical care could be terminated. These statues were sometimes dominated 'living will' acts, sometimes 'right to die' acts and ocasionally 'natural death' acts. Today virtually every state has produced a living will statue. In Korea, courts do not permit a terminally ill person to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment. Living wills apply in case of terminal illness owing to a defect in legislation. Now In Korea, these lively dispute of legal policy on the preconditions and concrete procedure of living will act and natural death act. Through the legislation of living will act and natural death act, we should prepare some circumstances to respect patient's autonomy on the right to die. We should frame the cultural standard to make a decision of forgoing life-sustainin1g treatment under the discreet procedure.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.20-32
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to develop a feasible form of a Korean version of advance directives (K-AD). Methods: Sixteen adults participated in this study: 10 aged 20~50 years and nine aged 65 years or older. Using a draft version of the K-AD, cognitive interview was conducted on the participants to establish a culturally acceptable form of advance directives whose directions can be understood and responded accordingly by the general population. Results: Cognitive interviews revealed areas of concerns for the draft version of K-AD: lack of instructions or clarity for technical and medical terms, context complexity and inadequate response categories. The draft version was revised by rewording, offering examples and rearranging the context. Editorial style was added with appropriate uses of bold fonts, bullet-points and underlines to facilitate interviewees' cognitive responses. Conclusion: Study results feasibility of the revised version of the K-AD. Further study should be performed with a larger number of participants to develop a K-AD with an acceptable level of reliability and validity.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.135-143
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• 2021

End-of-life patients experience physical, mental, social, and existential distress. While medical personnel provide medication and care to alleviate patients' distress, listening to and interacting with patients remains essential for understanding their psychological condition. The most important tool, though difficult to implement in practice, is end-of-life discussion (EOLD). EOLD has been shown to have positive effects on end-of-life treatment choices, achievement of patients' life goals, improvements in the quality of life of patients and their families, and the prevention of depression and complicated grief among bereaved family members. EOLD is not often undertaken in clinical practice, however, due to hesitancy among medical personnel and patients for various reasons. In order to conduct an EOLD, the patient's judgment, psychiatric illnesses such as delirium and depression, and psychological issues such as the side effects of psychotropic drugs, denial, and collusion must be evaluated. Open and honest conversation, treatment goal setting, the doctor's familiarity with the patient's background, and attentiveness when providing information are important elements for any dialogue. Meaning-centered psychotherapy was developed to alleviate the existential distress of cancer patients, and its application may promote EOLD. The future development of meaning-centered psychotherapy in practice and in research is expected to further promote EOLD.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.66-74
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• 2014

Purpose: This study is aimed to investigate perceptions of caregivers and medical staff toward do not resuscitate (DNR) and advance directives (AD). Methods: Participants were 141 caregivers and 272 medical staff members from five general hospitals. A questionnaire used for the study consisted of 20 items: 14 about DNR perceptions, three about AD, one each for age, gender and employment. Results: Both medical staff and caregivers strongly recognized the need for DNR and AD, and the level of recognition was higher with medical staff than caregivers (DNR ${\chi}^2=44.56$, P=0.001; AD ${\chi}^2=16.23$, P=0.001). The main reason for the recognition was to alleviate sufferings of patients in the terminal phase. In most cases, DNR and AD were filled out when patients with terminal conditions were admitted, and patients made the decisions by consulting with their guardians. Medical staff better recognized the need and for growing demand for guidelines for the DNR and AD decision making process than caregivers (${\chi}^2=7.41$, P=0.0025). Conclusion: This study showed that patients highly rely on their caregivers when making decisions for DNR and AD. Thus, it is important that patients and caregivers are provided with objective information about the decisions. Since participants' strong support for DNR and AD was mainly aimed at alleviating patients' suffering, further study is needed in the association with hospice care. Medical staff also needs to understand the different views held by caregivers and fully consider the disparity when informing patients/caregivers to make the DNR and AD decisions.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2009

Purpose: We undertook this study to find out the recognitions of terminal cancer patients and doctors about advance directives (ADs), of how they would do in non-response medical conditions and whether ADs could be one of medical options for their dying with dignity. Methods: One hundred thirty four cancer patients in the Hospice Unit, St. Vincent's Hospital, and 97 medical doctors in the Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic Medical Center, were asked about ADs, including Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR), medical power of attorney, living will and medical options. Results: One hundred thirty patients (97%) and 38 doctors (39.2%) were unfamiliar with ADs, however, 128 patients (95.5%), 95 doctors (97.9%) agreed with it. Seventy nine patients (59.0%) and 96 doctors (99.0%) wanted DNR rather then intensive treatments if they were in non-response medical conditions. Eighty four patients (62.7%) and 75 doctors (77.3%) were agreeable to medical power of attorney. One hundred Thirty four patients (100.0%) and 94 doctors (96.9%) did not want medical options to be in terminal conditions, and hoped to die in peace. Conclusion: Most of patients did not know about ADs and how to make it. However, they showed positive attitudes about it. If we advertise it properly, it is highly likely that a large number of cancer patients would make their living wills easily by ADs. Nevertheless, many legal and ethical problems have to be solved. Doctors should engage their patients in an ongoing communication about the end-of-life. Therefore, let the patients have opportunities to plan their own deaths.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.53-75
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• 2008

The end of life problem in the United States has been evolved from the development of concept of brain death over last 50 yr. The invention of ventilator and the development of emergency medicine also played a key role to elongate the end stage of life and which caused the American people to ask a question about the patients self determination and refusing the unwarranted medical treatment in the view of the death with dignity. With regard to the patient unable to self determination, surrogate decision was also considered. To guarantee the self determination, The patient self determination act also enacted on the level of Federal regulation in 1990s. But no law has effectively dealt with the situation when medical treatment became futile. Along with the significant debates on literature and court cases. The American Medical Association's Council on Medical and Judical Affairs presented formal opinion and the Texas was the first states to regulate the medical futile situation in 1999. Even though that definition was in controversy, the concept of medical futility mainly focused on the doctors' right to refuse the treatment.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.843-850
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• 2009

A recent High Court's decision regarding the withdrawal of life supporting medical treatment (artificial ventilator) from an elderly female patient in the terminal stage has opened up a new era of the "euthanasia dispute" in Korea. With this decision, the legitimate withdrawal of life supporting treatment became possible under certain conditions and the Korean Medical Association is working toward the establishment of practical guidelines for the terminal-stage patients. However, there are still very few debates on the cases of pediatric patients in the terminal stage or suffering from fatal diseases. For pediatric patients, the core principle of autonomy and following procedure of "advance directives" are hardly kept due to the immaturity of the patients themselves. Decisions for their lives usually are in the hands of the parents, which may often bring out tragic disputes around "child abuse", especially in Korea where parents have exclusive control of the destiny of their children. Some developed countries such as the U.S.A., the U.K. and Canada have already established guidelines or a legal framework for ensuring the rights of the healthcare system regarding children suffering from severe illness, permitting the withdrawal of Life supporting medical treatment (LSMT) in very specific conditions when the quality of life of the children is severely threatened. For the protection of the welfare and interest of the children, we should discuss this issue and develop guidelines for the daily practice of pediatricians.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 2011

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate patients' preferences on receiving life-sustaining treatments (LST) and to analyze the relationship between patients' characteristics and LST selection. We also examined any discrepancy between LST patients' choices regarding medical intervention and actual medical intervention given/not given within 48 hours before death. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed from March 1, 2008 to August 31, 2008 in the Palliative Care Unit of Korea University Hospital. Electric medical records (EMR) of 102 hospice cancer patients were reviewed, and 74 patients with Glasgow coma scale (GCS) ${\geq}$10 at the time of signing the advance medical directives (AMD) were selected for the first analysis. Then, patients alive at the end of this study, transferred to other hospitals or dead within 48 hours were excluded, and the remaining 42 patients were selected for the second analysis. Results: Preferred LST included antibiotics, total parenteral nutrition, tube feeding, transfusion, and laboratory and imaging studies. The relationship between patients' characteristics and LST could not be analyzed due to skewed preferences. LST chosen at the time of signing the AMD and actual medical intervention given/not given in the last 48 hours showed discrepancy in most cases. Conclusion: When making AMD in hospice cancer patients, it is important to consider the time and possibility of changing the choices. Above all, patients must fully understand the AMD. Thus, LST should always be provided with careful consideration of all possibilities, because legal and social aspects of AMD have not been established yet.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.85-92
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• 2020

Purpose: In 2018, the Act on Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients in Hospice and Palliative Care or at the End of Life was implemented and the scope of official recognition for terminally ill patients was expanded. The purpose of this study was to investigate the decisions made by patients with end-stage liver disease about their life-sustaining treatment in a clinical setting. Methods: The subjects of this study were patients with end-stage liver disease hospitalized at a tertiary hospital in Seoul, Korea who wrote physician orders for life-sustaining treatment (POLST). Data collection was done using patients' electronic medical records, and a retrospective analysis of POLST was conducted. Results: Among 101 patients, 18.8% were female and 81.2% were male, and their mean age was 61.8 (±10.61) years. Sixty-three patients (62.4%) wrote their POLST by themselves. Three patients withdrew the POLST, of whom two did so for liver transplantation, and one did so for chemotherapy. Conclusion: This study shows that sufficient consideration of liver transplantation is needed for end-stage liver disease patients before making decisions on life-sustaining treatment. The self-determination of patients must be respected and effective guidelines are urgently needed.