What is an Advance Directive?
An advance directive is a legal document written in advance of incapacitating illness that allows individuals to state their preferences about medical care. You can also designate someone to make health care decisions for you when the time comes that you are unable to make them for yourself. The most common advance directives are a health care proxy (known in some places outside of NYS as a durable power of attorney for health care) and a living will. Other types of directives are an organ donor designation and a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order.
An Advance Directive is a type of written or verbal instruction about health care to be followed if a person becomes unable to make decisions regarding his or her medical treatment. Because you prepare an Advance Directive when you are competent, they will be followed during periods of time when you lack capacity to make medical treatment decisions. There are several different types of Advance Directives, including a health care proxy, a living will, and a do not resuscitate (DNR) order. Each one of these is described in this pamphlet.
An advance directive is a legal document, such as a living will or a power of attorney for health care. As long as one is well enough, he/she makes medical decisions for his/her self. If one is unable to make or communicate medical decisions, the advance directive legally transfers medical decision-making authority from you to the person designated to make decisions and states end-of-life health care wishes. Go to the following link for more Information: www.uslivingwillregistry.com/forms.
An Advance Directive is a document in which you give instructions about your health care, what you want done or not done, if you can’t speak for yourself. Advance directives are not complicated. They can be short, simple statements expressing your values and choices. They are called “advance” directives because you can make choices for yourself before you become seriously ill. Examples of Advance Directives are Living Wills, Health Care (Medical) Powers of Attorney and Mental Health Powers of Attorney.
It is a written or oral statement about how you want medical decisions made should you not be able to make them yourself and/or it can express your wish to make an anatomical donation after death. Some people make advance directives when they are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Others put their wishes into writing while they are healthy, often as part of their estate planning. Three types of advance directives are: • A Living Will • A Health Care Surrogate Designation • An Anatomical Donation You might choose to complete one, two, or all three of these forms. This pamphlet provides information to help you decide what will best serve your needs.
