(in England and Wales under the Mental Capacity Act 2005) a legally recognized decision or statement by an adult with *capacity identifying any specific or general treatment the patient does not want in the event that he or she loses capacity. An advance directive or decision (formerly often called a living will) should be informed, made voluntarily, and must be valid and applicable to the medical situation that arises; at the extreme it can constitute an advance refusal of potentially life-saving treatment. It cannot, however, be used to demand future treatment and does not apply as long as the person retains capacity. An advance statement is a more general and less legally binding expression of the person’s values and views on the sort of treatment he or she may or may not wish to undergo. Directives and statements can raise ethical questions: for example, should life-saving treatment refused in advance nevertheless be given if it could restore the patient to a quality of life with which he or she was content before losing capacity.
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