Advance-Directives Books

The best way one can prevent themselves from becoming a burden on their families as they age is making sure the money they saved for their retirement stays saved for retirement and is only used for that purpose. "Alive and Kicking: Legal Advice... for Boomers!" grants legal advice so you can keep your money so when you finally do go and kick that bucket, your family has something other than massive debts to remember you by. Tips on Living wills, scams and identity theft, caring for your own parents in your own advanced age, issues involving age discrimination, driving, sex, and more are covered. While treating itself as a law book first, "Alive and Kicking: Legal Advice... for Boomers!" isn't afraid to crack a joke or bust out a poem now and again, giving a different and attractive flavor, making it highly recommended for anyone who is rapidly approaching retirement age and wants to be prepared for it in the modern world. Also recommended to community library law shelves.

What I liked about the book is the vast amount of useful information on all areas of planning for ones over age 50 years. And its a book that my son who is under age forty, found interesting, because it discusses issues that many people may never have thought about. It also is a book that dispells the notion that becoming sixty or older, means getting 'old' and unable to do many of the things we love doing in our forties or fifties. Cannot recommend the book enough.

Who would have thought that serious and important legal and financial matters could not be dished out with generous helpings of humor? This book clearly proves that theory wrong. An easy read, the authors never skip a beat when it comes to thoroughly discussing what readers need to know about boomer legal matters. I've recommended this book on many occasions.

This book is a humorous treatment of the serious business of the legal aspects of aging. Chock full of useful information and every page is entertaining.

Whether your reading preference is poetic, humorous, pragmatic, or just plain down to earth, Hegland and Fleming cover difficult legal issues in a way that makes you want to keep reading! This information is must to have in every home, whether yet boomers or not!

This is a practical book that walks you through the medical, legal, and spiritual issues of end-of-life care. Every adult should read this and decide in conjunction with family, physician, and pastor what he wants to do. He should select one or more health care proxies to speak for him when he can't. It is such a gift to tell people who would be forced into taking care of making decisions for you what you want and why. There is nothing more stressful than having to make life-and-death decisions. If you do it, under stress, with little knowledge of what is wanted, you may feel guilt no matter the outcome for the rest of your life. This book provides what you need to know to have intelligent, compassionate discussions that respect everyone involved. It's not morbid. It would be useful even for medical professionals, but is not too technical for the layman.

Everyone should get this book....for their parents or an elderly person they know. It is a great book with a wealth of information

WoW!!!! What a fantabulous book. This book walks you through all the steps you should know about life and death. On a scale of 1-5 it is a 10. Everyone should read this to get prepared for life's ultimate journey.

This is a practical book that addresses what you need to know in advance of a health care crisis, but it's useful if you waited too long as well. The author walks you through legal, medical, and spiritual information telling you the essentials and what kind of specific questions you should have answered for your needs. Laurence even tells you how to frame questions so that doctors will give you the information you need. You'll understand why you should have a health care power of attorney and how to get one for free. You'll be informed on how to talk to family and friends so that your wishes will be understood. You learn what you need to know about a durable financial power of attorney as well and how you can do an affordable one, though the author notes for something that powerful you may want legal advice. Having a regular will is also discussed. As all of us will die, and most of us will be forced to handle a loved one's critical care or death, this book is a solid resource devoid of preaching and not depressing to read and learn from.

No one is immortal, and the best way to deal with the unfortunate is preparation. "Living Will: Living Well" is a guide to responsibly dealing with the event of death. Aimed at those in their later years, it speaks of the importance of the living will and how the document isn't enough. Encouraging communication with loved ones and friends along with assistance in dealing with the legal paperwork of wills and other complications that arise, dealing with oneself after they have passed on. "Living Will" is a solid compendium of knowledge on one's own death, and should be highly considered to those who don't want complications for themselves.

I had the sincere privilege of taking a health care ethics class from Raymond Devettere while at Boston College. This is without exception the most illuminating book of my entire academic career. Not a day goes by that I don't remember the message of the book and ethic that Dr. Devettere teaches. This book, 2 years after I have read it remains the best book I have ever read.

This book gives information in an easy-to-read format about issues none of us really want to discuss. It's very necessary to make the plans discussed in this book.

Dying is not a problem: it is the process of dying that can be terrible> Dr. Stanley A. Terman's "The Best Way To Say Goodbye" is as good as anythig I read in being able to make better choices for the transition.

excellent, comprehensive discussion. this book clearly identifies end of life issues and provides useful counsel to achieve a given individuals goals. highly recommend.

The Best Way to Say Goodbye: a Legal Peaceful Choice at the End of Life has some excellent information. However, the book is so redundant that its information is not useful. As a counselor and a professional geriatric care manager, it is not a book I would recommend.

Basically the book is an extensive exhortation to use starving and dehydrating as a way of ending your life. The author, a psychiatrist, actually tried the method himself for 4 days. Oddly, he was not bothered by hunger pangs or thirst. He spends most of the 450 pages justifying this method of dying, which he calls Voluntary Refusal of Food and Fluid. Whenever this method is mentioned in the book, it is typed in bold face, which gets annoying.

Refusing food and fluids may not be experienced as an easy death by patients to whom taste is a primary source of pleasure, other pleasures having been removed by the effects of their disease. The initial deprivation before onset of a coma could be psychologically painful. The author neglects to mention that Azotemia, a normal and comfortable biological reaction to lack of food and water, is well known by hospice workers for the sedating side effect on dying persons.

The book is poorly organized. The same topics come up in almost every chapter, and the author says the same thing over and over again. It would be more useful if there were 1/10 of the words and a comprehensive index, plus addendums on thirst-reducing aids, medications that can be taken other than with fluid, and possible legal complications. A short chapter on the various religious views would be helpful.

The book needs statistical data to support the statement that "Medicare will most likely be bankrupt years before Social Security." In today's political climate, that sort of absolute statement cries for explanation.

Despite its failings, the book does contain some excellent information that might be beneficial to families of patients with a terminal diagnosis. Dr Terman mentions the financial repercussions to families and the financial burden on Medicaid of keeping patients alive in a vegetative state for the years that it is medically possible. He notes that there is no good way to die, especially not from a progressive disease such as Alzheimer's or ALS. The legal difficulties with euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are described, and the value of being as explicit as possible in your directive to physiciansis emphasized. There are helpful discussions on comfort care and the downside of tube feeding.

Dr. Terman shamelessly uses the text of this book to promote his novel on the same subject.

A Good Death by Chuck Meyer is a far better choice on this topic.

The content of this reference provides everything you need to know about voluntary refusal of food and fluid. I encourage readers to purchase a copy for themselves as well as family and friends because it is the most comprehensive of its kind! Dr. Terman's approach is solidified in knowledge of the subject matter and personal experience. I commend him on his ability to address such a sensitive and important topic in ways that help his audience feel at ease and at times entertained as they explore a legal peaceful way to say goodbye.
Stephanie Mason, MA, PsyD Candidate

This is an important and useful book, but it is not "The Best Way to Say Goodbye for Dummies." That doesn't mean it is not entertaining, which is surprising, given the subject matter. Yet for me, the best parts of the book were the excellent memoirs that made me feel spurred on to action. They motivated me to learn how to avoid using a distasteful plastic bag, for example, if someone like a suffering grandparent asked me how to hasten his or her dying. Clearly there is a more aesthetic and peaceful way to die.

I enjoyed the jokes; for instance, the one about the man who could not remember if the woman answered "Yes," or "No," to his marriage proposal. And the jokes were relevant to the author's message. Yet the average reader needs to remember that this is a "book-within-a-book," that many portions can be skipped by paying attention to the symbols, and that the reader need not worry about the references or glossary, unless interested. I understand Dr. Terman wanted to provide the comprehensive basis for Voluntary Refusal of Food and Fluid so that readers could bring the "text" to their physician, attorney, or psychologist -- who can check the original references.

Actually, the entire book should be required reading for any professional who deals with patients or relatives of patients who must cope with planning for how they want their lives to end.

Yet the book is so well organized that, if someone had a specific issue they needed information about, they could find it easily and pursue it in as much depth as they wish.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has anyone in this world that they love and care about, so that these loved ones are not left wondering what end-of-life decisions were wanted. This book is also for any person who wants to have control over their lives, not only when they live, but until their dying moment.

If you want a say in medical care and treatment at the end of your life, you want to own this book. Attorney and author Jo Kline Cebuhar writes in language clear enough for the layman. She includes everything you need to know about preparing advance directives, understanding the role of the proxy and the living will, and making numerous end-of-life choices. "Last things first" is an essential reference book for every home library in America.

Jo Cline Cebuhar has written a book that pertains to so many. Each of us wants our wishes respected at the end of our lives. The author discusses end-of-life decision making, proxies,guardianships, power of attorney for health care, legalities of living wills, and many other aspects of choices we need to make regarding the end of our lives. The advance directive laws for each state as well as source references for end-of-life planning are worth the cost of the book. However, you get so much more, and Jo Kline Cebuhar's writing is concise and to the point. I especially learned that my end-of-life wishes can give comfort to my family and loved ones when they know exactly what I want. Add this book to your personal library.

"Just in case" you do not have a law degree and you need some good, practical advice on living wills and durable powers of attorney for health care, this is your book! In a straight-forward, understandable (i.e., non-lawyer language!) approach, Jo Kline Cebuhar tells you everything you need to know. A must!

An excellent book that highlights how and why one can make decisions in end of life treatment. The book correctly sets aside the idiosyncracies of state forms (these are free from any doctor's office), and gets to the heart of _why_ to discuss this topic. This book is very helpful in starting and encouraging a conversation between family members and health care providers about what is important to the individual before and when the chips are down.

The author's comments are right on target. If you want to debate the reasons to have these documents, weigh ethical considerations, and write a values statement, this is the book for you. But if you buy the book already convinced you need these documents and what you want is a detailed list of suggestions, customized wording, state-specific information and forms, this book is disappointing.

I am a student of health sciences in USA, and I picked this book for a comparison on US and Japan and germany health care system and policy. I was interested in the book, it was well written, but it provided me with no detail insight into the real mechanismas of health care policy abroad. I would only recommend this to people who do not have to analyse the topic for course work.