In preparing for our own deaths,
we should ask 24 basic 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,
deciding 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.

    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 US 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, merely 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 much 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 that will open up our thinking.
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.
The 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.

    This group will gather people who are ready and willing to discuss death.
Getting to know others who are considering how to meet their own deaths
might be the most valuable part of this workshop.
Participants are encouraged to attend with their proxies and/or other family members.
Whole families can attend together.

    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 our Advance Directives,
which will be witnessed by other members of the group.
We will then have legal, enforceable documents for our end-of-life care.

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.

    (Use that same e-mail address
to arrange a presentation or workshop on Advance Directives
for your organization.)

{This seminar as offered by the Experimental College of theTwin Cities (EXCO):}

    If attending this workshop is not convenient,
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 . 
Each of the 24 Question gets three or four lines of further explanation.

3. James Park's 'Living Will' or Advance Directive for Medical Care .
My Advance Directive is organized around the 24 Questions.
Would you like to see how someone else has answered the 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.
And if the brief Answer is not sufficient,
you can always refer to the complete Answer in #3 above.

5. Books on Advance Directives.
If you want 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.

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.

course description as submitted to EXCO on May 23, 2009: