Healthcare Surrogate Part Two

We have another episode similar to this regarding the Health Care Surrogate, and discuss some different points in that video. We truly want to encourage you to designate your HCS early and communicate with them regarding your choices of these difficult decisions. Your primary and alternate HCS should: know they have been selected, be someone you trust to follow your instruction, be able to make difficult decisions, respect your views on Quality of Life, be your voice rather than what they want for you, and be someone you communicate with over time as your preferences may change. For some people, the preference is to accept all available treatments and interventions. The focus is more for preservation of life with less concern for outomes. The acceptance of all procedures and interventions matters more to extend life than predicted quality of life.

For others, the choices they accept may focus on the anticipated functional level that the physicians expect. The quality of life may impact the decisions as 'being alive' may not equate to 'living'. This is a very personal choice. Neither is a wrong choice. The HCS needs to respect the choice of the patient, just as the patient must provide information to guide the HCS. Your HCS should be someone that knows how you lived your life and what your belief system is to guide them. The HCS needs to be accessible to you and to your physicians. Being chosen as a Health Care Surrogate is a burden and an honor. The burden is to be the voice of the patient when they can not state for themselves what they would chose because they no longer have the capacity to interpret their surroundings and cannot make their needs known. The HCS needs to separate what they want for the patient from what the patient would say if they could understand their health situation and what the next moments, hours, and days ahead may look like for them. The HCS position is one of honor as they have been selected because they respect the patients' choices and have the strength to be that person's voice.