What Is An Advance Care Directive And Do I Need One?

Imagine you’ve become incapacitated. You may be unconscious, or unable to speak or reason. How do you want your medical treatment handled?

If you’ve never documented your wishes or at least discussed them with your spouse, parents, or adult children, medical personnel will make those decisions for you.

To ensure you receive medical treatment in accordance with your values, you may want to consider creating an advance care directive.

While this type of documentation is often thought to pertain to older adults, disease and accidents can happen at any stage of life. And preparation is never a bad idea.

Please note, unless otherwise cited, information in this article came from the National Institute on Aging.

Advance Care Directive Defined

An advance care directive is a legal document specifying what you want medical personnel to do if you are not able to tell them yourself. It generally applies to end-of-life-care or if you’re permanently unconscious.

It answers questions like:

• Do I want to be kept alive artificially?
• Do I want to be resuscitated by CPR or via a defibrillator?
• Do I want to be put on a…