"When he speaks to a group about their own dying, as he often does, Florida attorney Jim Towey sometimes asks for a show of hands: "How many have heard of living wills?"

A new version of living will called "Five Wishes" is designed to help change that. The document, written in reader-friendly language, is aimed at prompting people to talk with their families and doctors about something most choose not to talk about: their own death.

With the help of an intensive care unit nurse and a hospital chaplain, Towey drafted a new document that became the basis of the Five Wishes advance directive. The goal is to prompt a conversation among families that is less morbid and less medical than it normally sounds to people contemplating their own death."

--Colburn, Don, "Facing Death With a Plan: 'Five Wishes' Living Will Aims to Help Families Prepare for the End of Life," The Washington Post, 10/27/98, Z07

You may view the entire article here (some publications may require subscription or a fee)