Many people are worried about the medical care they would be given if they should become terminally ill and unable to communicate their wishes. Most people don’t want to spend an extended period of time dependent on life-support machines and they worry about causing emotional or financial distress for their family members. | |
| Mission Hospice encourages you to take an active role in your care before you become seriously ill. Explore which choices are best for you by discussing your wishes with your family and physician. Preferences can be clarified by thinking about and discussing with your family, friends or others your views about death, being totally dependent on the care of others, the role of family finances, the conditions that would make life intolerable to you, and how artificial life support would affect the disease process. You can share your wishes through legal documents called Advance Directives. | |
| Formal advance directives are documents written in advance of a serious illness that state your choices for health care, or name someone to make those choices, if you become unable to make decisions. Examples of advance directives are living wills, durable power of attorney for health care, or the POLST form. These forms allow you to make legally valid decisions about your future medical treatment. The best way for you to retain control in such a situation is to record your preferences for medical care in advance and share your decisions with your physician and loved ones. | |
| A living will is a document in which you can stipulate the kind of life-prolonging medical care you want if you become seriously ill, permanently unconscious, or in a vegetative state and unable to make your own decisions. A living will should be signed dated and witnessed, preferably by individuals who know you well but are not related to you and are not your potential heirs or your health care providers. The living will should be discussed and shared with your physician, family and other loved ones. You should ask your physician to make it part of your permanent medical record. | |
| A durable power of attorney for health care is another kind of advance directive: a signed, dated and witnessed document naming another person to make a medical decision for you if you are unable to make them for yourself. You can include instructions about any treatment you want or wish to avoid, such as surgery or artificial nutrition and hydration. | |
| A third option available now in California is called 'Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment' or POLST. The form asks specifics about your end-of-life options and also allows you to name someone who you wish to make medical decisions for you if you are unable. A copy of this form is available at www.finalchoices.org. | |
| You can change or revoke these documents at any time. Any alterations and any written revocation should be signed and dated, and copies should be given to your family, physician, and other appropriate people. Even without an official written change, your orally expressed direction to your physician generally has priority over any statement made in a living will or power of attorney as long as you are able to decide for yourself and can communicate your wishes. You do not need a lawyer to complete an advance directive. For more information on how to complete an advance directive, you may contact Mission Hospice on the agencies listed below: | |
| Area Agency on Aging: (800) 510-2020 Legal Counsel for the Elderly: (202) 434-2120 Eldercare Locator: (800) 677-116 | |
