Advance Health Care Directives is a Form for Conveying End of Life Wishes
End of life care is a very difficult matter to consider and plan for. However, if you don’t, somebody else, and not necessarily a loved one, may end up making these decisions for you.
An Advance Health Care Directive solidifies and conveys your wishes in preparation for a time when you may not have the capacity to convey them verbally.
Most leave documentation of wish conveying to the last minute. One never knows if, nor when, they may be faced with an end of life care situation. Preparing ahead of time is ideal.
Generally, end of life care refers to the medical and psychosocial care given during the advanced stage of an illness. Communicating your wishes in regards to this end of life stage should be in writing.
Advance directives may be communicated by preparing an advance care directive, living will, durable power of attorney and health care proxy. These legal writings convey the extent of care ahead of time and helps avoid confusion later.
Complex choices about end of life care are difficult when well and feeling good. Once you are seriously ill, these decisions can be overwhelming. Avoiding these decisions in healthy times places a heavier burden on you and/or your loved ones later on.
Communicating your wishes ahead of time helps to ensure you face the end of your life with the same dignity and values by which you lived.
The process of advance directives isn’t necessarily a single event, rather it can be ongoing should you have a change of mind. Advance directives can be modified as your situation changes or have a change of mind.
Do not wait until it’s too late, your mental competency is a requirement for preparation. And this competency is determined by someone else. Get it done before your mental state is in question.
Everyone who is of a legal age needs one ~ go HERE to get that directive started.
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