Planning for Death When You’re Healthy, Tara Parker-Pope on Health, New York Times Well Blog, March 20, 2009

Death might seem like a surprising topic for a writer whose career has focused on healthy living. But New York Times health columnist Jane Brody is urging people to plan for terminal illness when they are at the peak of health.

Recently I spoke with Ms. Brody about her latest book, “Jane Brody’s Guide to the Great Beyond: A Practical Primer to Help You and Your Loved Ones Prepare Medically, Legally, and Emotionally for the End of Life” (Random House, 2009).

Q: All of your earlier books have focused on staying well and nutrition. Why did you write a book about dying?

I’m known for my work on healthy living. It occurred to me that all life eventually comes to an end no matter how healthfully you live. There is no cure for mortality. The better and the further in advance you plan for that end, the less traumatic it’s likely to be, not just for you but for those you leave behind.

Q: When is the right time to start planning for death?

Start thinking about it when it’s unlikely to happen any time soon. It’s much easier to do it then. It’s less painful. Get it out of the way. Many people are saying, “I’m going to take action now while I still feel good and I’m still healthy.” You don’t have to be old. If you recall, Terri Schiavo was 26 when she suffered a heart attack that deprived her brain of oxygen and left her a living vegetable for 15 years, at great cost and trauma to her family.

Q: What is the single most important step everybody should take now to plan for death?

The most important thing is to assign two people who can be your health care proxy if you can’t speak for yourself. The health care proxy is a legal representation of the patient when the patient cannot communicate. It should be two people — you want a backup. You should sit down with each person and have a conversation about what you would like done under varying circumstances: When would you want to be resuscitated? When would you want to let nature take its course?

The book spells it out in great detail. There’s an entire chapter with a form on how to fill out your proxy form so that doctors can understand. Most living wills are ignored, and only one quarter of the population has completed one in the first place. There is also a risk that living wills can be misinterpreted in a detrimental way that you would least expect. If you just say “Do Not Resuscitate” in your living will, a doctor may not bother when you have a good chance of recovery.

Read the rest of this article here.

To read a brief excerpt from Jane Brody’s book on the end of her own mother’s life, visit The New Old Age blog, “Silence Is Not Golden.”