TRAIL's Living Well presentation for May will bring into sharp focus the importance of planning today for such future possibilities as serious illness or disability.
Professor Josephine Gittler of the University of Iowa College of Law will discuss legal vehicles for surrogate decision making in two very personal areas: one's health and one's financial situation.
"As people age, there is an ever-increasing risk that they will experience diminished decision making ability, whether due to Alzheimer's, dementia, or other disease or condition," she said. "It's very important to plan for this."
Key to such planning is using the appropriate legal vehicles, such as health care power of attorney and financial power of attorney. This planning involves carefully selecting the individual(s) who will make decisions for you and preparing them to handle the responsibility well.
Professor Gittler is the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law in the UI College of Law. She has secondary appointments in the College of Medicine, College of Nursing, and College of Public Health. She is also Director of the National Health Law and Policy Resource Center. A particular area of expertise for Prof. Gittler is surrogate decision making for older individuals with diminished decision making capacity.
Prof. Gittler brings a wealth of experience and depth of knowledge to her subject. Be sure to mark your calendar for her Living Well presentation.
This event was rescheduled from Friday, May 11.