Lesson 1 of 5
In Progress

Advance Directives & Forms – Overview

Written advance directives are crucial to ensure that healthcare preferences are honored if you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself.

Advance directives help:

  1. Clarify Wishes: Advance directives allow you to document specific medical treatments you wants or do not want, such as life-support measures, resuscitation, or artificial nutrition and hydration.
  2. Relieve Family Burden: Outlining your preferences in advance directives helps family members make difficult decisions during stressful situations, reducing emotional strain and potential conflicts.
  3. Empower the Individual: Advance directives give you control over your own health and body, ensuring your values and beliefs are respected even if you lose the ability to communicate them.
  4. Guide Healthcare Providers: Advance directives documents provide specific guidance to medical professionals, enabling them to deliver care that aligns with your desires.
  5. Provide Legal Protection: Advance directives offer legal assurance that decisions made on your behalf are consistent with your documented preferences, reducing potential disputes.
  6. Encourage Communication: Documenting your wishes in advance directives fosters open communication and mutual understanding about topics that are often difficult to broach, or not discussed at all.