Wisdom of generations: a pilot study of the values transmitted in ethical wills of nursing home residents and student volunteers.

Purpose: This is a pilot study that provides a description of the values older persons report in ethical wills and their reasoning for the values they chose, and compares the values in ethical wills of seniors and students. Nursing home residents rarely get the opportunity or venue to discuss these topics and the ethical will enables them to have conversations about issues they feel are important.

Design And Methods: The 22 Questions for Ethical Wills(c) assessment was administered to 15 residents of a large nursing home in suburban Maryland and to 11 student volunteers.