As the incarcerated population in America ages and includes more people with dementia, the need to understand and trigger the process for obtaining alternative healthcare decision makers becomes critical. This discussion touches upon the history of health care rights before turning to a practical exploration of how to ensure patients, including those whose dementia progresses and impairs judgment, are protected through well-established legal processes for granting surrogates the power to make important health care decisions.

Educational Objectives:

• Describe the legal principals underlying the right to make our own medical decisions and the impact on the aging incarcerated population
• Explain the differences between health care surrogates who are selected by the patient prior to severe progression of the disease versus appointed by a court
• Discuss how to recognize when a dementia patient needs a health care surrogate and how to obtain one

Made possible through an independent educational grant from Centurion Health.