This paper examines the importance of end-of-life planning, focusing on the creation of living wills, estate wills, and advance directives as tools for reducing the practical and emotional burdens placed on surviving family and community members. Drawing on health law scholarship and palliative care research, the paper argues that preparing for death is an act of community responsibility, personal integrity, and respect for others. It connects these themes to broader institutional core values — including community, respect, personal development, responsible stewardship, and integrity — illustrating how each value reinforces the ethical and legal imperative to engage in thoughtful end-of-life preparation.
Preparing oneself for the inevitability of death is never an easy process, either emotionally or practically. The end-of-life stages call for one to make difficult decisions regarding medical treatment and legal representation in the event that the individual reaches a point where he or she is no longer able to express those decisions. This calls for the assumption of an important set of responsibilities — incumbent upon each individual — to take the proper steps to reduce or eliminate the complexities that can accompany death. Core values embraced by educational and community institutions help to underscore both the philosophical and practical implications of creating a living will and/or an estate will. As the discussion will show, these steps are important as a way of helping to ease the practical burdens placed on those left behind.
Among the most critical imperatives for adequately and preemptively addressing end-of-life questions is the value of Community. A community-centered ethos holds that individuals should "foster a spirit of belonging, unity and interdependence based on mutual trust and respect to create socially responsible environments that challenge all of us to listen, to learn, to change, and to serve." This principle implies that even in death, we carry a responsibility to the community that will bury and grieve us. The proper delineation of do-not-resuscitate orders, last wishes, and inheritance issues demonstrates an awareness of the difficult tasks that face a community upon one's departure.
End-of-life planning is also tantamount to demonstrating Respect — for oneself and for others. Where the living will is concerned, we demonstrate the utmost respect for the sensitivity, compassion, and intuition of others to make the most difficult of decisions on our behalf. According to Furrow et al. (2008), "where an incompetent patient has been competent and possessed discernible values and interests, the proxy decision maker is obliged to apply the patient's values and interests in an attempt to make the decision that the patient would have made if she were, at that moment, competent" (p. 842). The advance healthcare directive thus becomes an act of profound respect, sparing loved ones from having to guess at one's wishes during an already painful time.
"Maturity required to address death and grief"
"Legal instruments for incapacity and decision-making"
"Integrity as the ultimate end-of-life virtue"
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