On September 11, at a HALO event in Minneapolis, I addressed concerns about Hospice. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to answer all the questions attendees asked. People who ask questions deserve answers. Furthermore, when one person asks a question, it is likely that others are interested in the answer as well.
The 10/24/25 HALO Voice Alert answered questions about Nutrition and Hydration. Today, I will tackle questions about POLST (Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment), a healthcare advance directive used extensively throughout the United States. It has various names and acronyms, but they all can be hazardous to your life.
WARNING:
+ All POLST forms reduce complicated medical decisions to a “check the box” format and are slanted toward encouraging refusal of life-saving and life-preserving treatment and care, resulting in avoidable deaths.