Care for the Person, Protection of Health and Respect for the will of the Patient in Italy: Support Administration as a Tool to Jointly Promote Health and Respect for Autonomy in Incompetent Patients.

In Italy, advance health care directives are a subject of considerable debate in both legal theory and practice. This debate focuses in particular not only on the appropriateness of approving ad hoc statutory regulations but also on the extent to which similar advance indications of a person's wishes are applicable under the existing legal system, albeit in the absence of a law regulating them. The authors of this paper consider, in particular, guidelines relating to the possible use of the mechanism of support administration (amministrazione di sostegno) (Law No.