Purpose: This study was performed to identify elements of living will which is a key part of advance directive. Method: World wide web sites and database were searched to access real documents and 53 existing living will documents from US, New Zealand...
Purpose: This study was performed to identify elements of living will which is a key part of advance directive. Method: World wide web sites and database were searched to access real documents and 53 existing living will documents from US, New Zealand as well as Korea were analyzed. Result: Seven distinctive categories of elements of living will were identified as follows; title and attribute; conditions which make living will effective; procedure certifying conditions which make living will effective; process which make living will legal; medical treatments included in living will; revoking procedure; misc. Conclusion: Identified construction elements and characteristics of each element from this analysis of existing documents would be helpful to prepare dying with dignity act and to develop living will in Korea in the future.