Advance health care directives are among the most important estate planning documents people create. Oftentimes, those facing a life-altering diagnosis or a terminal condition receive encouragement from health care and mental health professionals to establish an advance health care directive. An advance directive can be beneficial for even a healthy, relatively young professional.
A directive provides clear guidance about an individual’s medical preferences in the event that they cannot express their wishes on their own behalf. During times of incapacitation or unconsciousness, an advance health care directive can help medical professionals and family members determine what support someone should receive.
What types of issues do people generally address in advance health care directives?
Life support and resuscitation
For those facing a terminal or progressive illness, succumbing naturally to an illness can be the ideal outcome. They may not want medical professionals to engage in heroic efforts to extend their life how when their health declines. In fact, they may not even want basic resuscitation like CPR if their heart stops. Advance directives help protect family members from guilt by making it clear how an individual feels about resuscitation, life support and other emergency interventions.
Pain management
Sometimes, the decisions that health care providers or family members make in an emergency scenario have permanent consequences for the patient involved. The administration of narcotic pain relievers, for example, could create a lifetime substance abuse disorder. People can become dependent both physically and psychologically on the medication administered to them when they experience intense pain.
Particularly when someone is healthy to begin with, they may want minimal pain medication to protect themselves from dependence. On the other hand, someone facing a grim prognosis may want to be as comfortable as possible and may want health care professionals to be compassionate when administering pain relief. Clarifying those preferences can help people avoid scenarios in which other people may make choices that affect them later.
Anatomical gifts
Those who die with their bodies intact are sometimes eligible to make anatomical gifts. Medical professionals can harvest their organs and tissues for transplants. Organ donors can potentially save people’s lives, while tissue donors can provide people with a significant improvement in their overall standard of living. Other people with unusual medical conditions or an interest in the sciences might donate their bodies for research instead of requesting a traditional burial. Family members dealing with the sudden injury or decline of a loved one may struggle to make a decision about anatomical gifts. Being clear about one’s intentions ahead of time can allow others to uphold one’s personal preferences about anatomical gifts.
Advance directives, when combined with other estate planning documents, can protect people from unfortunate medical outcomes while also providing support for their families. Addressing medical preferences in estate planning documents can be as important as selecting beneficiaries for specific assets when drafting testamentary documents.
