Wellness Watch – Advance Directives

During a medical emergency or an end-of-life situation, your loved ones could face important questions about your healthcare that they may be unable to answer.  You may assume your loved ones know what you would want, but often, that’s not the case.  That’s why advance care planning is so important.

Thinking about these issues and developing a plan now ensures you have the power to make decisions about the kind of care you would and would not want, even if – in a moment when a critical decision needs to be made – you are not able to communicate your wishes.  Perhaps equally as important, advance care planning relieves the burden of such difficult choices from loved ones who may feel unprepared to take on that responsibility or may have opinions about your healthcare that differ from your own.

Advance care planning should involve meaningful conversations with loved ones.  While those conversations may seem difficult, they don’t have to be.  And they are much easier at a time when you are healthy and thinking clearly about your healthcare than at a time of crisis.  Advance care planning should also include an advance directive which is a legal document that allows you to outline your preferences for medical care.

As part of these conversations, many people find that they benefit from spiritual guidance.  That’s why we sat down with Phoebe Chaplain Joey Holland to discuss advance directives and advance care planning.

In our state, the Georgia Advance Directive for Healthcare replaced laws on the Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare.  The form is a legal document, but it is simple to complete without the assistance of an attorney.  It covers a wide array of questions, such as would you like to be intubated in a situation where you can’t breathe on your own, would you like to be an organ donor, or even who should be your guardian if you are unable to make decisions regarding your personal support, safety or welfare.

You may cancel or change your advance directive at any time.  You would simply need to complete a new form, following the instructions, and destroy the previous form.

There are many resources available to help you through advance care planning.  The Conversation Project is a public engagement initiative of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement designed to help anyone talk about their wishes for care, so those wishes can be understood and respected.  The National Institute of Aging, a division of the federal government’s National Institutes of Health, also has a helpful guide called Advance Care Planning: A Conversation Guide. 

At Phoebe, we encourage you to take advantage of these or other resources and to strongly consider completing an advance directive.