How To Ease The Anxiety That Comes With End-of-Life Decisions

Planning should also take into consideration that one day you may be, due to a chronic health condition or accident, unable to make our own medical decisions.

The right planning will make it possible for individuals whom you choose, to follow your detailed instructions regarding the kind of care you would like to receive should you become terminally ill or are in a permanently unconscious state.

• An “Agent”

This is the person whom you choose to have the authority to make medical decisions in the event that you are unable to make such decisions yourself. The person (the agent) you choose should be a family member or friend that you trust to follow your instructions. You should certainly talk to the person in advance about your wishes concerning medical decisions, especially life-sustaining treatment.

• Designation of Healthcare Surrogate

The basic principal is that someone must have the legal authority to communicate your wishes concerning medical treatment. A Designation of Healthcare Surrogate ensures that the instructions that you have established is clearly given to your agent, and will be carried out exactly as instructed. A health care proxy is especially important to have if an individual and family members may disagree about treatment.

A Designation of Healthcare Surrogate is useful, but limited only to when you require medical treatment and a physician determines that you are unable to communicate your own wishes concerning treatment. If the physician determines you are able to do so, or if later you do become able to express your own wishes, the Designation of Healthcare Surrogate will have no effect.

If you decide that you want your agent to possess the authority to communicate your wishes concerning medical treatment immediately, such language can also be added to your Surrogate documents. This will allow the agent to fully participate in healthcare decision cooperatively with you, while you can still express your wishes.

• Living Wills

Living wills give instructions regarding treatment if you become terminally ill or are in a persistent vegetative state and are unable to communicate your own instructions. The living will clearly instructs the agent under what conditions life-sustaining treatment should be terminated. If you would like to avoid life-sustaining treatment when it would be hopeless, you would need a living will in place before that happens.

The capstone statement?

Plan now, while you can still openly express what you want that plan to look like.