The frenzy of holiday gift-giving may be over but there’s another important gift you can give to yourself and to your loved ones. The gift of information and peace of mind in the form of an advance care plan.
Advance care planning involves discussing and preparing for future decisions about your medical care if you become seriously ill or unable to communicate your wishes.
You always have the right to participate in decisions about your health care. However, there may come a time when you are unable to communicate your health care wishes. Having meaningful conversations with your loved ones is an important part of advance care planning. To ensure your wishes are known and followed in the event you are not able to participate in the decision making, it’s important to document your preferences in writing by completing legal documents called advance directives.
I’ve spent heartbreaking moments with people trying to make heath care decisions for their loved ones in the absence of information. Disagreements about the kind of medical care mom would want. Would she want every measure taken to extend her life or would she opt for comfort care only? Where would a father with cognitive decline want to receive long-term care? Some family members were adamant about nursing facility care. Others were determined their father would want to live at home with support. Without an Advance Care Plan, families are left to guess what their loved ones would want.
These are not only hard conversations for children of aging parents. Parents and spouses often face making these decisions for their adult children or spouse when an accident or sudden illness renders their loved ones unable to make decisions for themselves.
The two most common advance directives for health care are the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care.
- Living will: A living will is a legal document that tells doctors how you want to be treated if you cannot make your own decisions about emergency treatment. In a living will, you can say which common medical treatments or care you would want, which ones you would want to avoid, and under which conditions each of your choices applies.
- Durable power of attorney for health care: A durable power of attorney for health care is a legal document that names your health care proxy, a person who can make health care decisions for you if you are unable to communicate these yourself. Your proxy, also known as a representative, surrogate, or agent, should be familiar with your values and wishes. A proxy can be chosen in addition to or instead of a living will. Having a health care proxy helps you plan for situations that cannot be foreseen, such as a serious car accident or stroke.
Unfortunately, only one-third of adults age 18 and older have an advance directive and less than half of Americans age 50-80 have a medical durable power of attorney or advance directive (National Poll on Health Aging 2021).
If you have not documented your heath care wishes, this leaves your loved ones to guess at the kind of decisions you would want them to make.
The state of Michigan provides a guide to medical and legal decisions in a Planning for Your Peace of Mind brochure. From understanding Advance Directives in Michigan to documenting your personal records and naming a health care advocate, you can use this resource to document key information for
your loved ones. A copy of Peace of Mind can be downloaded for free at legislature.mi.gov/Publications/PeaceofMind.pdf.
Another way to document your preferences is by completing the Five Wishes advance directive. Written in everyday language, it covers personal, spiritual, medical, and legal wishes all in one document. It allows your family or caregivers to know exactly what you want, so they don’t have to guess. It’s legally valid in Michigan and in most other states. More than forty million people use this user-friendly advance directive. You can learn more and order a copy at www.fivewishes.org/for-myself. The cost is $5. The information for your family is priceless.
Talk to your loved ones today about what matters most to you in regard to your future care. Research shows that you are more likely to get the care you want if you have conversations about your future medical treatment and put a plan in place. At the end of your life, it may also help your loved ones grieve more easily and feel less burden, guilt, and depression if they know they’ve followed your expressed wishes for your care.
Once your advance directive is complete, be certain to give a copy to your medical provider. They will add it to your electronic medical chart so it’s available and accessible if at any time you are not able to make decisions for yourself.
Christine Vanlandingham is CEO of Region IV Area Agency on Aging in Southwest Michigan. Questions on age or independence services? Call the Info-Line for Aging & Disability at 800-654-2810 or visit areaagencyonaging.org. The Generations column appears each weekend in The Herald-Palladium.