While it&rsquo\;s important for people to prepare for future health issues by signing \;a living will\, naming a health care agent\, and discussing one's wishes\, these steps are just th e beginning.
\nOur health care agents &mdash\; \;the people we n ame to make medical decisions for us when we cannot speak for ourselves &m dash\; \;are too often woefully unprepared for this task\, and need to be more prepared for what is to come. When a loved one is seriously ill\, the decisions are more complex and the emotions more intense than anythin g we expect. \;People who have made these decisions don&rsquo\;t talk about the pros and cons of surgery or dialysis\, but about a paralyzing se nse of fear\, desperation\, grief\, guilt and\, perhaps more than anything else\, an overwhelming need to fend off death. These agents are often tra umatized by this process\, with perhaps a third suffering from some degree of post-traumatic stress disorder for months or even years after the fact .
\nIn this talk\, Morris will discuss how to choose a health care a gent\, what to discuss with an agent\, and &mdash\; \;critically &mdas h\; \;what they can expect and how they can prepare \;an agent for the task ahead.
\nVirginia (Gigi) Morris is the author of \;How to \;Care f or Aging Parents \;and \;Talking About Death Won't Kill You. She has been a guest \;on \;Oprah\, The Today Show\, Good \;Morni ng America\, CBS This Morning\, \;Primetime\, ABC World News with \;Diane Sawyer\, Katie\, The Diane \;Rehm Show\, and a host of other&n bsp\;national media. She testified as an \;expert on these issues befo re the \;US Congressional Joint Economic \;Committee at the invita tion of Sen. \;Amy Klobuchar. She now serves as \;clinical instruc tor at Dartmouth&rsquo\;s \;Geisel School of Medicine\, and an ethics consultant at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. \;She \;is curr ently making a series of videos to prepare people to be health care agents .
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