No VSED Dementia Directives in Hong Kong

In jurisdictions without MAID or MAID by advance request, VSED directives are growingly popular. But not in Hong Kong. It's new statute on advance directives specifically excludes this option. 

An instruction in an advance medical directive is of no effect if it instructs, or purports to instruct, that the maker of the directive—(a) is not to be provided with basic care or palliative care; 

basic care means any general care provided to a patient that is not medical in nature and is essential to maintaining the comfort of the patient;

Note—The following are examples of basic care—(a) offering food and drink to the patient for the patient’s consumption by mouth; (b) assisting the patient in consuming food and drink by mouth; (c) measures to maintain the patient’s personal hygiene; (d) non-medical measures to relieve the patient’s pain.

In contrast to Hong Kong, VSED directives are valid under advance directive laws in most U.S. jurisdictions and Canadian provinces. We designed this VSED directive to overcome gaps in two dozen others being used around the world.