Assesment of knowledge levels and attidutes about advance directives among above 20 years old people WHO were examined in Akdeniz University Family physician outpatient clinic

The aim of this study is to draw attention to the subject of "advanced directives", to create awareness, whether or not they want to investigate to determine the preferences for medical care and applications in the period of end-of-life while individuals can specify their preferences and wishes for medical decisions and take steps for it. The study was carried out on individuals aged 20 years and older who applied to Akdeniz University Hospital Family Medicine outpatient clinics for any reason. In the scope of the research, no sample was selected and a questionnaire consisting of 30 questions was applied to 300 people who volunteered to participate in the study between 01.10.2017 and 01.06.2018 by a face-to-face interview technique. A total of 300 people, 56.0% of whom were women, participated in this study. Although 76.3% of the respondents thought that advaced directives were necessary, 73.3% stated that they did not speak to one of their family or physician to decide on their own behalf if they could not make a decision about their medical care. 73.7% of the respondents stated that they wanted to choose someone (a friend or relative) as their health proxy to make medical decisions. According to our results; many of the participants stated that they had not spoken to one of their families or physicians so far in order to decide on their own behalf, although the majority of respondents thought that the advanced directives were necessary. Family physicians have an ideal position for end-of-life care and discussing advance directives. Family physicians, who inform patients and their families about future directions for health care that they would like to be presented in end-of-life care, and help patients to document their requests would facilitate the decision-making for end-of-life care of patients and their family members. Key Words: Advanced directives, end of life care, family medicine.