As brain function is increasingly damaged by dementia, a person begins to lose interest in or forgets to eat and drink. Eventually, they lose the ability to physically feed themselves and must be fed either artificially or by hand by a caregiver. Without specific instructions to your caregivers not to provide food or fluid, caregivers will continue to keep you fed and hydrated until you die of something else. These dementia directives were written so that you can specify that you do NOT want that.