Legal
End-of-Life Care Planning (Advanced Directives)
Last Updated:
Discussions about care at the end of life are important today because of the ability of medical technology to prolong life. In recent months, there has been a considerable amount of publicity about the topic. Highly publicized court cases involving comatose or dying individuals also direct attention to the subject. With the average expected life span of Americans getting longer and longer, the statistics support that each of us will eventually come face-to-face with making end of life care decisions for ourselves or someone we love.
The best way for you to be in control of your medical care and treatment at the end of your life is to record your preferences in advance.
Advance Directives are documents written in advance of serious illness which state your choices about medical care or treatment at the end of life or name someone to make choices about medical care/treatment for you if you become unable to make your own decisions. Living Wills, Durable Powers of Attorney for Health Care, and other similar documents such as Georgia’s Directive for Final Health Care are examples of Advance Directives.
What is a Living Will?
A Living Will is a document in which you can instruct your physician to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining supports if you become terminally ill. Each state describes the kind of form that must be used in order for medical personnel to honor your wishes. A Living Will must be signed, dated, and witnessed. An attorney is not needed to draw up a Living Will, though you may decide that consultation with an attorney is desirable.
What is a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care?
A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care is a signed, dated, and witnessed legal document in which you can name another person, as agent, to make medical decisions for you if you become unable to make decisions yourself. In a Durable Power of Attorney, you can state specifically what treatment you want or do not want as you approach the end of life. This type of Advance Directive is applicable no matter what type of disease has affected you. It is not necessary for you to be terminally ill for this document to be effective. A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care can be written without the advice of an attorney, though you may decide that consultation with an attorney would be helpful.
What is a Directive for Final Health Care?
The Directive For Final Health Care, developed by Georgia Health Decisions, combines the Living Will and the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care into one document.
Resources
A Planning Guide is available through the Critical Conditions website and provides one of the most user-friendly, thorough resources available. Though developed for persons residing in Georgia, it is valuable for persons residing in any state.
Common Questions
People who have been required to make final health care decision for loved ones, without knowing that person’s wishes, will tell you how hard it was to make those decisions. They will also tell you how much easier it would have been if they had been prepared to make such decisions. Having a discussion with your loved ones about final health care decisions and end-of-life care planning is worth the effort. Regardless of what your final health care decisions may be, they can only be respected if you share them with your loved ones. By talking with your family (and your physician) and by completing an Advance Directive, your wishes about end–of- life care will be clear to those who will be making decisions if you cannot. Take time to prepare yourself and your family about end-of-life care. By doing so, you can provide specific directions to each other. Then, if any of you are faced with making difficult health care decisions for another, there will be a personalized plan to follow.
Ms. Buchanan serves as the Director of Clinical Services & Safety for Southern Home Care Services. Through its state-licensed and CHAP*-accredited offices, Southern Home Care Services provides personal support, respite, homemaker, skilled nursing services, and a variety of specialty services to clients of all ages. In her corporate capacity, Ms. Buchanan oversees clinical operations for all of the Southern Home Care Services’ offices. A Registered Professional Nurse, Ms. Buchanan achieved specialty certification in Critical Care Nursing as well as in Nursing Administration and worked for many years in acute care hospital settings.
Southern Home Care Services is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ResCare, Inc., a leading provider of residential, therapeutic, job training, educational, and in-home support services to populations with special needs, including persons with developmental and other disabilities, including those caused by acquired/traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury.