Improving the Quality of Care of Gravely Ill Older Patients: Re-Imagining Care at the Boundary

Moderator: Daniel J. Brauner, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, The University of Chicago
Developed by the Ethics Committee.
As geriatrics matures and becomes more explicitly engaged in care of gravely ill and dying patients it becomes increasingly important for us to be more proactive in improving this care for our older patients.  This symposium will present an historically sensitive portrayal of the evolution of contemporary rhetoric and ethos of care for gravely ill patients with the ultimate goal of developing a Post-Advance Directive Model.  

The Problem: A Presentation and Analysis of Contemporary Cases of the Enactment of Advance Directives
Thomas E. Finucane, MD, Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University

Where Did It All Come From? An Historical Analysis of Cardiac Arrest, the Therapy From Which it Materialized and the Confluence of Forces That Helped Create the Advance Directive
Caitjan Gainty, MA, MPH, History, Doctoral Candidate, The University of Chicago

Identifying the Core Issues: How Do We Improve the Situation?
Daniel J. Brauner, MD