How To Prepare For The Future

Most Americans believe it is important to have conversations around what their wishes are about end-of-life care and how they want their wishes to be honored, but only 32% have had this conversation. 

One of the best gifts we can give to our loved ones is a conversation about what our wishes are for our medical care if we were to have a diagnosis of a life-limiting illness or an emergency where we are no longer able to communicate our wishes to the medical community. Clearly outlining specific care we would want or not want, helps eliminate the guessing on the end of our family, reducing stress, conflict among family members and gives loved ones peace of mind.

An advance directive is a written document that clearly states the wishes about receiving medical care when that person is not able to make those decisions for themselves. The two most common advance directives are a LIVING WILL and a DURABLE POWER of ATTORNEY. These can be completed with the assistance of an attorney or there are several online resources available to help with creating, downloading and/or printing.

THE DIFFERENCE

* Living Will - A legal documents that tells your family and healthcare providers how you want to be treated if you can't make your own decisions about emergency treatment. A healthcare proxy can be chosen in addition to or in place of a living will. 

* Durable Power of Attorney - A legal document that names your healthcare proxy - a person who can make healthcare decisions for you when you can no longer do that for yourself. Choosing a proxy is an important part of advance care planning.

These documents should be revisited at least once a year or after a change in medical condition or when there is a new diagnosis. Most states require a witness, other states may also require a notary. You should check the laws in the state in which you reside. 

Your Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney should be kept in a safe place (notify your family of location). There should be a card on your person that indicates that you have a living will. Additional copies should be provided to your healthcare proxy and alternate proxy and all healthcare providers.