Improving care at the end of life: how advance care planning can help

Based on a comparison of studies of patient desires regarding end-of-life care and of the actual course of end-of-life care, this article concludes that there is a significant discrepancy in the United States between the kind of care most people want and the kind of care they in fact receive. The article offers a case example to illustrate one type of dilemma commonly encountered in end-of-life care. It then introduces and describes the practice of advance care planning. Use of advance care planning, it is argued, can prevent moral dilemmas and improve end-of-life care.