Advanced directives also address key issues that arise at end of life or during emergencies. For example people can state whether or not they are organ donors, put forth requests for funeral arrangements, and organize assets (Morhaim et al e8). Now that the options of an advanced directive are understood we can explore what it really means to have these documents, and the barriers that cause people to not create these documents.
The heart wrenching case of Terri Schiavo is an excellent depiction of the importance of being informed about advanced directives, as the question of age is one of the main barriers that prevent people from creating one. The case of Terri Schiavo blatantly illustrates the importance of having a living will, and one can see that medical emergencies occur at any age and nobody is invulnerable to such horrid events. At the age of 26 Terri Schiavo collapsed in her home, cutting off oxygen from her brain for several minutes. Unfortunately, this disastrous event left young Terri Schiavo critically brain damaged. Although Schiavo could breathe and maintain a heart beat on her own, she needed a feeding tube to sustain life. A prolonged battle between Schiavo's family, the Schindlers, and her husband, Michael Schiavo, over what Schiavo's end-of-life wishes were would occur in years to come. The Terri Schiavo case exemplifies how pertinent it is to have a living will that indicates your end of life wishes. Lack of a living will meant that Terri's fate was left in the hands of her battling family and the government. This case provides stimulus to become more knowledgeable on the topic of advanced directives because having one in place for Terri Schiavo would have saved her family and medical professionals from the adversity they faced throughout the case.
Sadly, many young people have put themselves in a position to end up like Terri Schiavo in the case of a medical emergency by not creating an advanced directive.