With the combined effects of a rapidly growing elderly population and advances in medical technology, the need for decision making about appropriate medical treatments for elderly individuals has increased. Education about advance directives, legal documents which identify patients' decisions regarding medical treatments, has not been systematically directed toward elderly adults residing in the community. To begin this systematic education, the proposed project will develop a prototype video about advance directives for elderly adults residing in the community. A pilot study to examine the feasibility of using this video for education and evaluate the usefulness of this tape will be conducted. Advance directives can be used by any individual, but they are particularly useful to the elderly who may need a decision about medical treatments made for them in the future. Unfortunately, many elderly individuals are not aware of advance directives and their applications. The Patient Self Determination Act was developed to educate those entering nursing homes, hospitals, and those using home health care about advance directives. However information received at the time medical services are needed often arrives too late to be most effective. The proposed project will bring education about advance directives to healthier individuals, who are able to use the educational information by executing an advance directive.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research:The video, which will be designed for older people living in the community will be marketed to 1) associations that serve the elderly (i.e. AARP), 2) area offices on agmg, 3) senior housing sponsors, 4) local libraries, 5) lawyers who specialize in elder law, 6) community centers with programs for the elderly. The video may also be re-edited for other commercial applications including nursing homes.National Institute on Aging (NIA)
