Advance Directives: Don’t Overlook this Important Responsibility
Today’s video addresses Advance Directives, a sobering but important topic. Advance Directives are typically thought of as a Living Will and Healthcare Proxy as described below.
Living Will: the document which describes one’s decisions about life-sustaining treatment as a result of seriously compromised health.
Healthcare Proxy: the document which appoints another individual to implement the preferences outlined in the Living Will should the individual who executed the Living Will not be capable of doing so due to mental or physical impairment.
It is rather surprising to go online and see articles on the pros and cons of Living Wills. Certainly, if you want your wishes honored, you should execute these documents, share them with your family, make sure your providers have copies, and upload the documents to whatever electronic medical record systems are relevant to your life. Doing all these things optimizes the chances that your wishes will be followed.
Some issues can vary from state to state because laws vary but generally speaking, a properly executed document should be honored in another jurisdiction. I am attaching the Connecticut Living Will Form to this copy so people can see what it looks like. You could choose to have an attorney execute a Living Will and healthcare proxy but it’s probably not necessary. There are even online services for free or low-cost living wills, although we cannot vouch for these.
There are other related documents, like the MOLST (Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) form, POLST (Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) form, or DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) orders but those require a doctor’s signature. The information included in these documents is completed and available when an individual is in an impaired condition in order to provide the most up-to-date direction for medical providers.
You can change your Living Will and Healthcare Proxy and you should if your wishes change. But, remember, these documents aren’t helpful unless widely shared as described above.
We feel almost every adult should execute a Living Will and Healthcare Proxy because, in addition to serious illness later in life, younger adults are prone to a wide variety of serious accidents. In truth, the unforeseen accident is when having these forms completed in advance is most critical, compared to a drawn-out illness where one has more time to plan and make their wishes clear. We tend to make things complicated in healthcare but with Advance Directives the choice is straightforward: make your wishes known or leave others to guess what those wishes are. Leaving the responsibility on a family member to guess your wishes is an unfair burden. Please take the time to make your wishes known and to encourage family members to do the same. Thanks.
