What is Advance Care Planning?

• Advance care planning allows you to have a say in your care by preparing you for future medical decisions.
• It is the process of learning about decisions that might need to be made in a medical emergency, thinking about those decisions ahead of time, and sharing your preferences with your doctor. 
• It can help make sure that your wishes are understood by your loved ones and healthcare team. 
• Your preferences are influenced by your personal values and can be recorded in an advance directive. 

What are Advance Directives?   

• Advance directives allow you to have a say in your medical care if you are not able to speak for yourself.  
• They are documents and forms that describe your preferences about medical treatment. 
• There are several types of these forms.  
• Some forms are simple. Other forms allow you to document detailed medical preferences. 

Appointing a Healthcare Representative

• One of the easiest ways to make sure your wishes are followed is to choose someone to make medical decisions for you if you became unable to speak for yourself. 
• The healthcare representative form allows you to choose an adult who would make medical decisions for you if you became unable to make your own.  
• This is the simplest advance directive to complete and takes only a couple minutes.    
• Choose an adult who (1) knows you well, (2) will ask your doctors questions, and (3) will respect your wishes. 

Resources

There are many forms available to document your medical wishes. Some are most helpful for patients with chronic or advanced illness. Talk with your doctor if you have more questions about advance care planning or advance directives.  If you have completed an advance directive previously, please bring this in to be uploaded to your medical chart. Alternatively, you can send your documents through MyChart to your provider.