While forms like advance directives or living wills can address legal requirements to support your health care wishes, they may not give your family or your doctor peace of mind that they are abiding by your wishes when they have to make hard decisions. The advance care planning worksheets in Planning My Way help you refine and personalize your instructions. In addition, writing a personal letter to your family, or creating an audio or video recording, helps them feel confident that they are doing the best they can to follow your wishes.
Depending on your personal health circumstances, different worksheets might be most helpful in communicating your wishes to your spokesperson, loved ones, and health care providers.
Only one person is truly qualified to tell your health care providers how you feel about different issues—and that’s YOU.
Some people believe that doctors know best and should make all the decisions. However, a patient’s values and goals are very important and should guide decisions about their treatment. Your health care providers have technical knowledge and years of experience. But without your help, they can’t know what’s best for you given your specific medical situation.
Every patient is different. Two patients with the same condition can have very different ideas about what kind of treatment they want. Have you thought about what kinds of medical care you would choose if you couldn’t tell your providers what you wanted?
Through advance care planning, you can help ensure that your wishes will guide your future health care.
Only one person is truly qualified to tell your health care providers how you feel about different issues—and that’s YOU. Through advance care planning, you can help ensure that your wishes will guide your future health care.