Table 5.

Respondents who want their DPA or their family to make treatment decisions^* (selected; verbatim)

My DPA [family] knows me/my preference/my interests
It would be important for my DPA to help the doctors because they know me and my beliefs.
My family shares my religious beliefs and most of my other beliefs / standards so I am pretty sure that they would attempt to respect my wishes to the best of their ability.
I do want my family involved. There is much more to life/living than simply using my heart and lungs as a timer. My family knows better than doctors what my values are and what is important to me.
I feel like my DPA knows me and would do what is best for me.
They share similar values as me and would most likely act as I would if I were conscious
I want my family involved with my care, because I have explained to them exactly what my desires are.
I trust my DPA [family]
I want my daughter to help physicians make medical decisions. Reason: she is capable, responsible, realistic, and knows my wishes. She is a good decision maker.
I trust him. He knows me, I know him, we have discussed extreme measures and both strongly agree we don’t want them. We will stick up for each other
Because they know and love me, as opposed to a money grubbing doctor waiting for their money from the insurance agencies.
Impact on DPA [family]
They will need to live with consequences.
Because my family knows me better than anyone else and they would be the ones suffering the burden.
I care about them and want them to be happy even though I am unconscious and a burden
To provide comfort to my DPA knowing they had control or input over treatment.
Others
Racism and bias may prevent doctors from really thinking about all of my options.

^*Respondents are those who selected the answer category: “My DPA [family] should make the decisions after getting the medical information from my doctors” or “My DPA [family] should make the decisions after asking my doctors which treatment my doctors think makes the most sense