Tips on Filing Out a Health Care Directive

• Having a health care directive can help your family make the right decisions if you are ill.document image by AGphotographer from Fotolia.com
  
  A health care directive is something that you fill out to let your doctors, family and loved ones know what you want for your health care, should you be unable to verbally tell them. Typically included in the document are treatments and procedures you would want or not want and whether or not you would want to be resuscitated should the end of your life come. Thinking about these things before they happen helps keep your loved ones from having to make these judgment calls for you later.
  
  

Prepare the Legal Form

• The health care directive is a legal document, and for it to be legal and binding, you must follow the laws that apply in your state. The Office of the Attorney General in the state in which you live should have the information you need and the forms to fill out. Forms can also be obtained from the health care association web site for your state, senior community service organizations, lawyers that specialize in wills and estates, geriatric care managers and hospice programs or hospitals. The forms are very clear and easy to fill out, but it still must be done carefully to comply with state laws. You can simply write a few statements about what your wishes are. You are not required to use legal help in preparation, but it may be a good idea so you are fully informed of the laws where you live.
  
  

Appoint a Health Care Agent

• You need to appoint one person who will serve as your “power of attorney” while you are ill, and will be the one designated to carry out the health care directive as you have it stated. Often, people choose a sibling, spouse or close friend. It is critical that you tell this person of your wishes so he is fully informed. Provide this person with a copy of the health care directive and go over the document carefully.
  
  

Reassess Regularly

• Take a look at your directive every couple of years, and update it if necessary. If for any reason you change your mind about what you’ve put on the document, it can be revoked, rewritten and refiled, as long as you are still deemed of sound mind and are able to make decisions for yourself. Speaking with a doctor about possible treatments and procedures that may be performed on you can help you make these decisions.