► Schiavo Case Points to Need for Health Care Proxies, Living Wills
► Unanticipated Turns
► Group Urges Signing of Health Care Proxies
► Chamber Breakfast Meeting - Introduction of Westchester End of Life Coalition

Schiavo case points to need for health-care proxies, living wills
By RICHARD LIEBSON, THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original Publication: March 22, 2005)

Local lawyers and health advocates say the life-and-death decisions being debated in the Terri Schiavo case should serve as a reminder to people of the importance of drawing up living wills and health-care proxies.

"It's definitely raising public awareness,'' Peekskill lawyer Donald Singer said. He said he's provided several clients with health-care proxies. "I'm sure people have been talking about it today and calling their lawyers and health-care providers about it.''

Marsha Hurst, director of Sarah Lawrence College's health advocacy graduate program and a founder and vice president of the Westchester End-of-Life Coalition, said increased awareness could be one positive outcome of the Schiavo tragedy.

"Most people think a health-care proxy is for senior citizens, but many of the cases cited by the media involve young people,'' Hurst said. "People tend to think that these things won't happen to them, so they don't prepare for it.''

Next month, the coalition will kick off a $5,000 "Everybody Needs a Proxy'' publicity campaign, with a grant from the Community Fund of Bronxville, Eastchester and Tuckahoe, to persuade as many people as possible in the three communities to fill out and sign health-care proxies.

Although planning for the campaign began in the fall, Hurst said publicity surrounding the Schiavo case is driving the point home.

The New York State Health Care Proxy law allows people to appoint someone they trust, usually a family member or close friend, to make health-care decisions if they lose the ability to do so, including decisions on whether to remove or provide life-sustaining measures. Hospitals, doctors and other health-care professionals must adhere to the health-care agent's decisions. Proxy forms, which are usually available at health-care facilities, allow health-care agents to be given as much or as little authority as an ill person wants.

A living will — a document in which health-care wishes are spelled out in the event a person becomes unable to make those decisions — is not provided for under state law, but is recognized by the courts to some extent.

"The proxy is provided by law, and the decisions made by designated health-care agents are normally followed," said Kathleen Rosenthal, an Elmsford-based lawyer who teaches courses on wills and estates at Pace University Law School. "A living will, because it is only a written document, is open to interpretation and can be more easily challenged in court.''

Pleasantville lawyer Robin Sweeney said that while a living will does not override a proxy, it does give an overview of a person's wishes.
"I feel that people should have both,'' Sweeney said. "I recommend to my clients that they choose a proxy that knows them intimately — someone they can talk to about what their moral, spiritual, religious and physical beliefs are and who they trust to follow their wishes.''

While proxy and living will forms can be filled out without a lawyer, it's recommended a lawyer review them.

"There are nuances that might not be fully understood without a lawyer,'' Sweeney said. "This is serious business, and it bears a lot of responsibility."
Click here to link to original article: The Journal News - Article

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Unanticipated Turns
By THE JOURNAL NEWS, THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original Publication: April 14, 2005)

In what might seem a case of the tail wagging the dog, the Westchester End-of-Life Coalition is embarking upon a new initiative to get county residents to take responsibility for what happens at the end of their lives.

In tandem with the Sarah Lawrence College Health Advocacy Program, the coalition is drawing attention to New York's underused Health Care Proxy Law, which allows people 18 and over to appoint someone they trust to make health-care decisions for them in the event they lose the ability to make or communicate decisions on their own. An easy-to-fill-out form, available on the Web, allows New Yorkers to designate their proxy, the extent of the proxy's authority, and what kinds of treatments they favor or oppose.

The push comes with the Terri Schiavo case still gnawing at people's minds and causing reverberations in Washington, Albany and state capitals across the nation. Who needs a public-awareness campaign after a public spectacle like that? Apparently we do.

According to the coalition, only a handful of New Yorkers, some 25 percent, have designated health-care proxies. That figure might have inched up after Schiavo, as untold residents sought to assert their end-of-life wishes. But we all know what happens when the spotlight shifts. The vast majority simply moves on, without taking any action. Which is how the next Schiavo-like controversy will be born — or perhaps already has.

The Schiavo debate was fueled by the absence of direct evidence of her medical wishes.

While the Florida courts later accepted her husband's representations that Schiavo opposed certain measures to keep her alive under the circumstances, a lack of a written record of her wishes provided all the opening required by religious zealots, the Florida legislative and executive branches, the U.S. Congress and President Bush to intervene. Try imagining House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, putting aside his many problems just to elbow his way to your bedside. Or the very busy president dropping everything to do the same. Keep those images in mind, should you turn the page without clipping the box above.

The coalition endeavor, on the drawing board well before the concluding chapter in Schiavo, includes training and sending out volunteers to talk to groups (for example, schools, churches, community and civic organizations) about the state form. The sponsors are also looking for financial help — money to help them spread the wisdom of health-care proxies beyond the immediate target area of Eastchester-Bronxville-Tuckahoe. Perhaps our families will later thank them for the help, at a time not likely of our choosing.
Click here to link to original article: The Journal News - Editorial

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Group urges signing of health care proxies
HOPE SALLEY, REVIEW PRESS (Original publication: April 14, 2005)

Liz Moran's 42-year-old husband recently had a critical heart attack.

Fortunately, he recovered, but she found out later from her husband that what she thought he wanted wasn't his wishes at all.

The End-of-Life Coalition, based in Bronxville, is using this true story about an area couple to promote the importance of health care proxies so that situations like this are avoided. The group is planning an upcoming, new, grass roots campaign called "Everybody Needs a Proxy," which aims to educate the public about health care proxies.

The coalition identifies and tries to fill gaps in end-of-life services throughout the community.

Christina Staudt, the president of the organization and a Bronxville resident, said its imperative that people think now about what they would want done if they were to ever become incapacitated. She has seen experiences first hand as a patient care volunteer for the Jansen Memorial Hospice in Tuckahoe.

In light of the recent Terri Schiavo case, more people are beginning to understand the importance of having advanced directives.

"The Terri Schiavo case occurred in large part because Mrs. Schiavo had no written advanced directives," Staudt said. "It (proxy) is precisely to help avoid a situation such as this that we promote the signing of health care proxies."

Staudt said there aren't enough people informed about proxies.

"In New York State, as typically around the country, only 20 to 30 percent of the adult population has signed health care proxies. There is a clear gap between a readily available tool and the number of people taking advantage of it," she said.

In Bronxville, the Community Fund granted $5,000 and Lawrence Hospital donated about $3,000 to the organization for the cost of printing 10,000 proxy forms for the campaign on April 16. Staudt said she is hoping additional voluntary contributions are made by individuals and businesses in the community. Filling out a proxy is imperative for all people, regardless of their age, she added.

"The proxy enables you to name a person who acts as your agent if you cannot make decisions for yourself," she said. "It is most helpful to discuss with your agent what your wishes would be regarding treatment and life support should you be in a persistent vegetative state, as was Terri Schiavo, but it is not advisable to have a detailed 'living will' because no one knows exactly what the medical situation will be in this kind of tragic occurrence."

She said that in the Schiavo case, part of the controversy revolved around artificial nutrition and hydration, which the courts have ruled is a kind of medical treatment, but which arouses strong emotional response among many people. She said residents should put detailed information on their proxies.

"You can — and should — specify, 'my agent knows my wishes regarding artificial nutrition and hydration.' With this statement, the agent is free to use his or her good judgement based on his or her knowledge of what the patient's wishes would have been."

Eastchester councilwoman and Bronxville resident Vicki Ford also encouraged residents to fill out health care proxies during a town board meeting on April 5. She said the campaign is a good way to continue to get people's attention.

"We've all been made so aware," she said regarding end-of-life issues. "It's important to have something planned in your own statement. That's extremely important."

Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin and David Morse, president of the Community Fund, will join Staudt at the official kick-off for the campaign on April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. outside of Citibank at 95 Pondfield Road in Bronxville.

Volunteers will assist people on a case-by-case basis, Staudt said. She hopes to have similar events in Tuckahoe and Eastchester, and in other communities in the county.

Click here to link to original article: The Review Press - Cover article

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Chamber Breakfast Meeting Discusses Events; Introduces Westchester End of Life Coalition
By Lisa A. Mauro

The Bronxville Chamber of Commerce held a breakfast meeting on Tuesday, April 19, 2005 at Lawrence Hospital. One of the main topics of the meeting was the introduction of the Everybody Needs a Proxy campaign by guest speaker Christina Staudt, President of the Westchester End-of-Life Coalition (WEOLC).

The WEOLC is an organization that works to expand the awareness of the importance of end-of-life issues. It helps those people who are at the end of their life, along with their loved ones and caregivers. It provides information and services between residents of Westchester and those who can give support.

Staudt explained that the Everybody Needs a Proxy campaign is a community-based campaign that promotes the signing of Health Care Proxies in Westchester, including all persons from the age of 18 and up. The goal is to get people to think about their health care, their wishes, and whom they would choose as their health care proxy. This campaign deals with situations in New York State.

Staudt also explained that this is the first stage of the campaign targeting all people living and working in the following zip codes: 10707, 10708, and 10709. The Everybody Needs a Proxy campaign is funded by the Community Fund of Bronxville, Eastchester, and Tuckahoe, Inc. For additional information about the WEOLC, go to their website (www.westchesterendoflife.org).

Click here to link to original article: Bronxville Bulletin - Article

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Coming Soon: Pediatric Palliative Care Conference (fall 2007) based on the PBS documentary, “A Lion in the House.