Have you expressed to your family your desires for medical care should you become severely incapacitated and potentially placed on life-support systems? Have you written down your desires to create a permanent and indisputable record?

These are among the questions that will be addressed in a one-time seminar at Wilshire Sunday, April 3, at 5:30 p.m. “Living Wills: What You and Your Family Need to Know Now … And Later” will be led by Parish Nurse Linda Garner, who is a professor of nursing at Baylor University’s Herrington School of Nursing.

Garner will be aided in the dialogue by a variety of Wilshire members with expertise on this and related topics.

“The Terri Schiavo case in Florida has drawn so much national interest in end-of-life issues in general, and in the important role of Living Wills in particular, that this is an ideal time to address the topic proactively,” Garner said.

The Living Will, or Advanced Directive in Texas legal language, is a simple legal device that can provide direction to medical providers about a patient’s desire to receive or not receive life-sustaining treatment in severe cases such as Schiavo’s.

“The seminar will not dictate any perspective on what end-of-life choices you and your family should make. We will, however, help all participants understand how best to express their desires and make sure those desires are carried out if necessary.”

Participants in the April 3 seminar will be given opportunity to complete their own Living Will documents at the session, with consultation available from medical doctors, nurses and attorneys.

The seminar is open to the community.