Les sujets âgés hospitalisés en soins de longue durée rédigent-ils des directives anticipées et désignent-ils une personne de confiance ?

Elderly people hospitalised in long-term care do not draft advance directives, and very few name a person of trust. These are the results of a retrospective study involving all patients admitted to a long-term care unit between January 1st 2014 and December 31st 2014. Patients were systematically questioned at admission by the unit physicians on whether they wished to name a person of trust and write advance directives. Only one patient had drafted advance directives (which were not valid since they dated back more than three years) and four patients (3.63%) had named a person of trust. The existence of severe cognitive disturbances with loss of autonomy explains why 67% of the patients were unable to apprehend the idea of advance directives and person of trust, and did not therefore choose to comply. Twenty-seven per cent of patients did not wish to draft directives. The moment when patients are asked whether they have drafted directives or appointed a person of trust affords the opportunity to talk to the patient about his or her wishes should he/she be unable to express them at a later stage, and to create a bond of trust between patient and physician.