Advance Directives

This volume gives an overview on the currently debated ethical issues regardingadvance directivesfrom an international perspective. It focuses on a wider understanding of the known and widely accepted concept of patient self-determination for future situations. Althoughadvancedirectiveshave been widely discussed since the 1980s, the ethical bases ofadvance directivesstill remain a matter of heated debates. The book aims to contribute to these controversial debates by integrating fundamental ethical issues onadvance directiveswith practical matters of their implementation. Cultural, national and professional differences in howadvance directivesare understood by health care professions and by patients, as well as in laws and regulations, are pinpointed.