Advance Directives and Advance Care Planning for People with Intellectual and Physical Disabilities

This paper describes the current status of advance directives and advance care planning in the disability community and identifies where gaps exist in policy, practice, and research. The aim is to better assure that the needs and issues of people with disabilities are considered and integrated into new policies designed to promote effective advance care planning. This report reviews professional literature, consumer materials, and Internet sites pertaining to advance care planning, surrogate decisionmaking, and end-of-life care for people with physical and intellectual disabilities. [25 PDF pages]