You can only make sure people respect your medical decisions by taking the right steps. To help with this, you might need an advance medical directive form. In this blog post, we’ll show how to get ready for major future healthcare choices.
Planning for Every Possibility
Few people take the time to think about what they’d do in a health crisis. If they can’t talk during the emergency, this means they can’t arrange the treatment they need. You can start your plans by asking yourself the following questions:
What would be a suitable quality of life?
Are there any treatments you wouldn’t want to receive?
Do your religious beliefs affect end-of-life care?
Would you want to be on a ventilator?
Are you open to experimental therapies?
Once you really think about it, your answers might surprise you. Make sure your loved ones will know what to do in a situation where you can’t talk.
For example, if you’re in a coma. In this situation, you’ll need someone you trust to arrange treatments you’d approve of. They must only ever act in your best interests.
Choosing a Healthcare Proxy
A healthcare proxy is someone who makes these decisions for you. You can arrange these with a power of attorney document. This grants the proxy (or agent) the authority to choose the types of treatment you receive.
However, you should only pick someone you trust with your life. They should know your beliefs, limits, and boundaries. This is the only way they’re able to advocate for your care. Selecting the wrong person could mean getting risky treatments with serious side effects.
Your proxy should, if it comes to it, also know when to end the care. This is something you must discuss with them. Can you trust them to shut off the ventilator if necessary? The choice isn’t as simple as picking who you trust the most.
Filling in Your Living Will
A similar route to follow is setting up your “living will.” This also comes into effect when you can’t communicate. It gives you a space to fully outline what you’d be comfortable with. You have to cover a wide range of situations here, including:
Life-sustaining treatments
Comas of all kinds
Terminal illnesses
Resuscitation
Organ donation
Vegetative states
Artificial nutrition
Pain management
Dementia/Alzheimer’s
It may also be worth using a POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) form. This comes directly from your doctor. It can combine with your living will to offer more details on your treatment preferences.
This is also a space to express if you want a DNR (“Do Not Resuscitate”) order. This means you won’t receive CPR during a cardiac arrest. People choose this if CPR would do their bodies more harm than good.
As with a POA, your living will can set out your healthcare proxy. If you can’t advocate for your treatment, they’ll do so on your behalf. For example, the doctor or other family members may be resistant to your wishes.
Building an Advance Medical Directive
Your advance medical directive combines a power of attorney with a living will. Many people opt for one or the other. However, making sure you have both will give you extra peace of mind. You can be sure that the right people will respect your medical wishes.
Medical directive forms vary from one state to the next. This is because deciding your treatment options can be a legal and ethical minefield. For example, some states (including Louisiana and Alabama) refuse to end life support for pregnant patients.
To navigate state requirements, use an online living will template. This includes every field you’ll need for it to be legally binding.
For example, Florida templates have space for two witnesses. A Utah living will, meanwhile, will only require one. On top of this, not every state requires a notary’s signature.
Reviewing Your Situation
Over time, it’s possible your beliefs and boundaries will change. You might find yourself open to experimental treatment or CPR, for example. You may even decide you want somebody else to act as your POA’s agent.
If this happens, you must change your advance medical directive as quickly as possible. This is the only way to guarantee you get the treatments you want. Even if there are no major changes, it’s good to review the document every year or so.
When updating your living will or POA, always destroy the previous copies. This ensures there’ll be no confusion in the middle of a crisis. Always keep your agent in the loop. This will help them continue advocating for your care.
Final Thoughts
You need the right documents and plans to get the treatment you want. If you don’t prepare well enough, you won’t get a say in your own healthcare. Always use online advance directive forms for a free, legally binding medical crisis plan.
Disclaimer: The information provided in the "Law District Releases Essential Guide on How to Prepare for Future Medical Decisions" is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or medical advice. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content, the Kisspr and it's partners are not responsible for any financial, legal, or medical outcomes resulting from the use of this guide.
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