Advanced directive: a Brazilian model

Abstract

This article is the result of the doctoral thesis, whose general objective was to propose a model of advance directives to Brazil. Therefore, we carried out a literature review on advance directives in America and Europe, especially in the United States and Spain, and semi-structured interviews with medical oncologists, intensivists and geriatricians in Belo Horizonte-MG. It was realized that the Brazilian model should distance itself from form models used in many American states and provinces in Spain, in order to leave room for the subjectivity of each patient. We conclude, therefore, that the proposed model has the capacity to assist citizens who want to advance their policy, as well as doctors who wish to provide this option for their patients, but it should always be used as a guide and not as a closed model to the peculiarities of each situation.