Updates are available Correction dated 2022-11-16

Article History

Received: 11 September 2020

Accepted: 26 August 2022

First Online: 6 October 2022

Change Date: 16 November 2022

Change Type: Correction

Change Details: A Correction to this paper has been published:

Change Details: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-022-00850-4

Declarations

:

: This is not a clinical trial that involves human subjects. “Not applicable.”

: No consents are required. “Not applicable.” The reasons vary: Details about Margaret Bentley are from already published accounts (Pages 3, 5, 8, 18). Details about the Dutch case are from already published accounts (page 8, 9). Details about Susan Saran are from already published accounts (page 11). Case I, II, and III, (pages 14–15) were designated as “semi-fictional.” This means the clinical stories of several real patients were combined and fictional details were added. The goals were to illustrate a point by a poignant story. Yet in my professional or personal experience, for example, I never met a real patient living with dementia who perked up when Dixieland Jazz was turned on, although I did see such a patient on a video. Details about Norman Cantor are from already published accounts (page 15). Details about Cynthia Cardoza are from already published accounts (page 17). Cases A, B, C, and D are fictional. 19-20 Details about Case IV are from already published accounts (page 20). Details about Case V are from already published accounts (page 20). The “patient [who] manifested two conditions” on page 21 is fictional.

: Dr. Terman owns the Institute for Strategic Change that publishes books and forms related to end-of-life challenges and advance care planning. As a healthcare provider, he counsels patients about advance care planning in three settings: Caring Advocates, a California not-for-profit corporation that he founded and serves as its CEO and Chief Medical Officer; Institute for Strategic Change, a for-profit California corporation that also publishes and sells books and online material related to advance care planning; and Psychiatric Alternatives and Wellness Center, as an independent contractor. He helps patients receive reimbursement for his services from health insurance companies, but his ability to accept new patients is limited so he trains other healthcare providers. He has not accepted fees as a consultant, provided expert testimony in this area, or received royalties. He infrequently receives modest honoraria for presentations. This article does <i>not</i> specifically refer either to the advance directive or to the strategies that Dr. Terman and his colleagues developed over the last 17 years. Those who read this article are <i>not</i> likely to be surprised to learn that Dr. Terman offers a directive for dementia since who else but a drafter of a directive would analyze this area in such depth? Co-author Karl E. Steinberg has no competing interests. Co-author Nathaniel Hinerman has no competing interests.