Maureen’s Go-To Resources
Advanced care planning includes conversations with your loved ones when you are healthy and best able to make decisions about how you want to live in the event of sudden trauma, serious illness, or at the end of your life and your choices for medical treatments.
These conversations can be difficult.
Here are resources that can be helpful as you navigate the process.
Advance Care Planning documents include a living will and a healthcare proxy. A living will differs from a last will and testament. A last will and testament distributes your assets when you are no longer living. A living will details your wishes for care and medical treatments when you are living but can’t speak for yourself.
A comprehensive resource for individuals, doctors and healthcare workers, social workers, clergy, and chaplains to communicate and document end-of-life goals of care.
Most items are free
A two-page easy document identifying your healthcare proxy and an alternate individual; can be completed and taken to your doctor or hospital upon entrance. Your loved ones and health care proxy and alternate should have a copy. Most states have this document on their website.
Free
Serves as your healthcare proxy and DNR/DNI (Do Not Resuscitate/Do Not Intubate); is user-friendly, recognized by the medical establishment, and does not require a notary or attorney in most states. Acceptable in all states, however, New Hampshire, Kansas, Ohio, and Texas require legal modifications.
$5.00 fee
A letter and guide written to your loved ones to let them gently and lovingly know how you want to live when you are seriously ill or at the end-of-life; a “permission” slip to say ”It’s ok, you can let me go now if . . . and please give me comfort care and stop treatments”; a great way for beginning the conversation with your loved ones.
Free
An excellent tool developed by The Goals of Care Coalition of New Jersey offers four steps ** to help you think clearly about your healthcare if you are suffering a serious health-care condition.
Step 1-understand your diagnosis, thoroughly
Step 2-understand your prognosis, comprehensively**
Step 3-decide how you want to live at the end of your life**
Step 4, choose your medical treatment options.
**Doctors often want to go directly from Step 1 diagnosis to Step 4 treatment. You must slow down and make sure you complete Step 2 and Step 3. Advance Care Planning will help you and an advocate complete this process.
Free
Termed a A Physicians Order for Life Sustaining Treatment or a Medical Order for Life Sustaining Treatment (depending on the state).
This is the ONLY document that is legally recognized to enforce your wishes at the end-of-life; if you designate your goals of care on the POLST/MOLST and make the document available to your healthcare providers, EMS teams, doctors, or hospitals will not perform CPR or intubate you if that is what you requested. YOU can revoke it at any time. A POLST/MOLST is often advised when a person is at an advanced age and/or advanced stage of illness and no longer wishes to have life sustaining treatment but comfort care instead; it must be signed by your physician, physician’s assistant, or advance practice nurse.
Free