Advance Directives: Advancement for Palliative Care in Brazil

In this resolution, the AD is defined as: The set of wishes, previously and expressly manifested by the patient, about the care and treatment that he or she wants to receive when he or she is unable to freely and autonomously express their will [1]. It states that the individual may choose to record the medical treatments he or she does not wish to receive in certain situations in the future, to appoint a power of attorney to make decisions for him when he is no longer competent to do so, or both. It is important to emphasize that the resolution has normative power only for physicians and, therefore, does not take into account other professionals, thus it stimulates the debate on the subject, especially with regard to its legislative regulation and clarification concerning the rights of people with advanced diseases to express their wishes [2].