Psychologists have a key role to play in raising awareness of Advance Decisions and helping people write them.
That is the argument of Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson in their article in the December 2015 issue of The Psychologist, the monthly magazine of the British Psychological Society.
Mentally competent adults have the right to refuse medical treatment, say, Kitzinger and Wilkinson, but this can be under threat if someone suffers an injury or progressive illness that leaves them unable to communicate their wishes.
An Advance Decision allows an individual to spell out how they would wish to be treated (or not treated) in such an event. Someone with a progressive illness, for instance, may want to make it clear that they do not wish to be kept alive on a ventilator.
At present only four per cent of adults have written an Advance Decision. Kitzinger and Wilkinson say:
"This is partly because many people are still unaware that it is possible to make a legally binding decision about treatment in advance of losing capacity ... and partly because many people believe - wrongly - that 'next of kin' will be able to make end-of-life decisions on their behalf. In fact, family members (as such) have no decision-making power for adults in English law - and, in any case, surrogate decision making is notoriously inaccurate."
Kitzinger and Wilkinson say that if psychologists get involved in helping people draw up Advance Decisions they will make a positive contribution to supporting people's right and choices in relation to the live and to their deaths.