Advance Directives

You have the right to decide what type of medical care you want, even if you cannot speak for yourself. Advance Directives are legal documents describing how you want your health care handled if you can no longer communicate your wishes. There are two types of Advance Directives: a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and a Living Will.

This document allows you to name a person as your health care agent to speak and act on your behalf if you are not able to. This should be someone who knows your beliefs, values, and health care wishes.

This is a legal document completed by you that tells medical providers what you do or do not want if you are diagnosed with a terminal condition or are permanently unconscious and unlikely to recover. You may choose to decline life-sustaining measures that artificially prolong the process of dying.

Without an Advance Directive expressing your wishes, medical care providers will do everything they can to resuscitate you and keep you alive. This includes CPR, artificial feeding, and being placed on life support machines. Decisions to continue these measures will be made by next of kin as defined by state law or, in some cases, by a hospital ethics committee.

Advance Directive forms are free from your provider or hospital. They can also be downloaded for free from the internet. When you sign the forms, it must be in the presence of a Notary Public or two qualified witnesses. The Notary Public may charge a small fee.

Adults of any age may find themselves in a position where they cannot speak for themselves due to an accident or severe illness. Having an Advance Directive ensures that your wishes for medical care are known and informs providers of the person who can make these decisions on your behalf.

You and your family should agree on a safe place to keep your original Advance Directive. You should give copies to your provider, attorney, and anyone you appoint to make health care decisions for you. You may also register your Advance Directive at the U.S. Advance Care Plan Registry. Visit this webpage to register your directive.

You may change or cancel your Living Will or Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care at any time by completing a new one and giving written notice to the person you assigned as your agent. It is a good idea to destroy all copies of your old Advance Directive and replace them with the new documents.

Yes. Hospitals and doctors support patients’ rights to make their own medical decisions. They follow Advance Directives that meet state law and medical ethics standards.

A POLST form or portable medical order is a document you work on with your medical provider if you are seriously ill or have advanced frailty. POLST forms are focused on end-of-life decisions and are completed by your provider. This is a medical form, while an Advance Directive is a legal form that can cover a wide range of health care decisions.