Table 2.

General Wishes Statements

1. I cherish my life regardless of its quality. I would want any and all medical treatments that might prolong my life, even if the result is a quality of life that others regard as very poor. This means that I want all treatments: even if treatment would prolong my life by only hours or days even if their chance of success if very low regardless of the cost of treatment regardless of the burden of treatment on me or others

2. I cherish my life regardless of its quality. I would want all medical treatments that are likely to prolong my life, unless my family and loved ones would consider the burden to them to be unbearable. This means that I want all treatments: even if the result is a quality of life that others regard as very poor even if treatment would prolong my life by only hours or days

3. I cherish my life, so long as my quality of life is acceptable. I want only those medical treatments that are likely to be successful in preserving what I consider a good quality of life. This means that if my quality of life is likely to be poor, I would rather live a shorter period of time than undergo medical treatments that prolong my life. For me, an unacceptably poor quality of life means: (list of conditions/experiences drawn from user’s responses to the program)

4. I cherish my life, so long as my quality of life is acceptable and efforts to prolong it do not impose on my family and loved ones a burden they consider to be unbearable. I want only those medical treatments that would not impose such a burden and are likely to preserve what I consider a good quality of life – even if this means I would live a shorter period of time. For me, an unacceptably poor quality of life means: (list of conditions/experiences drawn from user’s responses to the program)

5. I do not want any medical treatments that would prolong my life, unless the purpose of the treatments is to help other people, such as: to make organ donation possible to use my body for research or education to allow family or friends to say goodbye to me

6. I do not want any medical treatments that would prolong my life, even if the treatments would: return me to my current state of health decrease my discomfort have a high probability of success impose minimal burden on me or on others benefit others (such as organ donation, research or education)