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     In preparing for our own deaths,
we need to ask 24 Questions,
discuss them with our loved ones,
put our decisions into writing, & appoint proxies.
This workshop will be an opportunity to meet
with others who are asking the same Questions,
attempting to decide their own medical ethics,
and how they want to be treated at the end life.
    The workshop will be led by James Park,
an existential philosopher and medical ethicist.

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    A 'living will' or Advance Directive for Medical Care
is a signed and witnessed legal document
setting forth our own personal medical ethics,
stating clearly how we want to be treated at the end of our lives.
Especially if we want something other than standard medical care,
we must put our wishes into writing.

    The first part of any Advance Directive is appointing proxies
to make our medical decisions for us if we become incapable of deciding.
These surrogates will enforce whatever we put in our 'living wills'.
The Supreme Court has ruled (in the Cruzan case) that states
may require clear and convincing evidence
for some life-ending decisions (such as withdrawing food and water).
Thus, having a proxy is not sufficient.
We must leave written instructions for at least some decisions.
The easiest way to make sure our wishes are carried out
is to write a 'living will'—better called an Advance Directive for Medical Care.

    Creating our Advance Directives can take 1 hour, 10 hours, or 100 hours.
But even a simple 'living will' is infinitely better than no writing at all.
State law allows us to write comprehensive 'living wills'.
(James Park's Advance Directive is 50 pages long.)

    This workshop is an opportunity for us to discuss our own
medical ethics and to create our own individual 'living wills'.
If we already have Advance Directives,
this workshop will allow us to review and revise them,
which we should do every five years.

    We will discuss 24 Questions we must answer for ourselves
if we want comprehensive Advance Directives for Medical Care.
Some of the themes:
quality of life; Alzheimer's disease; pain control; nursing homes;
financial limits; termination of treatment; DNR; right-to-die;
definitions of death; disposition of remains; philosophical-religious issues.
These 24 Questions for a comprehensive Advance Directive will be found here:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/Q-L-WILL.html

    We will explore the 24 Questions as deeply as we wish
and compare notes about obtaining cooperation and consent from others
—and any other problems we might encounter.
Each person who completes
this workshop will have a written Advance Directive for Medical Care
expressing his or her own wishes.
We will finish the workshop by signing and witnessing
one another's Advance Directives, which then become legal documents.

DATES: (up to 7 sessions of two hours each;
when would be the best times for you?).

LOCATION: (suggestions welcome).

FEE: Free of charge (unless the meeting room costs something).

    If you would like to be notified the next time this workshop is offered
anywhere in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul,
Send a message to James Park: <PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU >.
Put "LWW Mailing List" on subject line.
Include anything you want to say in your message.

    If you cannot attend the 'Living Will' Workshop,
you can still create your own Advance Directive at home.

Resources:

1. 24 Questions for Your Advance Directive for Medical Care.
If you want to create a comprehensive 'living will',
you will need to write at least a few comments
in response to each of these questions.
Be sure to discuss your answers with your proxy or proxies,
so that you can extend and clarify your answers as needed.

2. Advance Directives for Medical Care:
24 Important Questions to Answer . 
The is a three-page explanation of the 24 Questions.

3. James Park's 'Living Will' or Advance Directive for Medical Care .
My Advance Directive is organized exactly around the 24 Questions above.
So this will give you an idea of how at least one person
has come to grips with the ethical questions
involved in writing an Advance Directive.
You should think for yourself and come to your own conclusions,
not just copy my Advance Directive.
(You will probably find it far too long in any case.)
But it might be helpful to see some actual Answers to the 24 Questions.

4. A Summary of James Park's 'Living Will' .
If you do not want to read the complete 50-page version above,
a 4-page summary is also available, 
which answers each Question in one paragraph only.

5. Books on Advance Directives.
If you want some more input to help you consider
all the issues of medial ethics you must decide for yourself
in creating your Advance Directive,
you should consult whichever of these books seems most useful.
A review of each is provided to help you decide what to read.

7. Free consultation service from James Park.
If you would like someone besides your proxies and doctors
to read your Advance Directive,
send it (or parts of it) by e-mail to me:
James Park , e-mail:
PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU

8. Advance Directive Portal .
This lists all of the resources named above,
but some additional ones might be added as they are suggested.