Make Your
Wishes Known...
Planning for Important
Healthcare Decisions
An Advance Directive is a plan for how future medical
decisions should be made if and when a patient is not capable of making
choices for him or herself.
Hospice
of the Upstate offers Advance Directives as information and
community education. It is not intended to replace the advice of legal
counsel regarding these or other planning documents.
It’s important to remember:
·
Decisions like these are best considered before
there is a health crisis
·
Your Advance Directive can be changed as your
situation or your wishes change
·
Your loved ones and your healthcare providers
need to be aware of your decisions, and your
Advance Directives need to be accessible to them
The state of South Carolina recognizes different forms
of Advance Directives that provide written instructions on life-sustaining medical procedures and decisions regarding care at the end of life. The most commonly used directives are:
Healthcare Power of Attorney – this document
lets us appoint an agent to speak on our behalf if we cannot speak for ourselves. It also allows us to specify whether or not we wish certain life-sustaining methods
to be used.
Declaration of a Desire for a Natural Death –
the Living Will allows us to decide whether or not to receive life-sustaining medical procedures. This form is used in the absence of a trusted friend or relative who can speak on your behalf.
Please consult your attorney or other qualified professional
to determine which form is right for you.
