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.