Advance Directive Erase For Free

The main disadvantage of an advance directive is that it is a piece of paper. After a sudden accident, the doctor and medical team may not even know that this legal document exists if you go into the hospital. Additionally, different states have different requirements for an advance directive.

Many times, advance directives are too vague to guide clinical decisions. For example, general statements rejecting "heroic treatments" are vague and do not indicate whether you want a particular treatment for a specific situation (such as antibiotics for pneumonia after a severe stroke).

The use of two questions, 1) "If you cannot, or choose not to participate in health care decisions, with whom should we speak?" and 2) "If you cannot, or choose not to participate in decision making, what should we consider when making decisions about your care?," may accomplish the major goals of an advance directive.

While many residents have advance directives that prohibit care in the event that breathing or the heart stops (such as a Do Not Resuscitate order), full code allows for all interventions needed to restore breathing or heart functioning, including chest compressions, a defibrillator and a breathing tube.

There are many reasons that people are reluctant to sign a living will. "Many people don't sign advance directives because they worry they're not going to get any care if they say they don't want [cardiopulmonary resuscitation]," says Courtright. "It becomes this very scary document that says, 'Let me die. ' "

The personal identity problem expresses the worry that due to disrupted psychological continuity, one person's advance directive could be used to determine the care of a different person.

Advance directives generally fall into three categories: living will, power of attorney and health care proxy. LIVING WILL: This is a written document that specifies what types of medical treatment are desired. A living will can be very specific or very general.

Canceling Advance Health Care DirectivesYou can cancel your Health Care Proxy by notifying, orally or in writing, your agent,doctor or others who have copies.You can cancel the appointment of the agent on your Health Care Proxy at any timeand appoint a different health care agent in a new Health Care Proxy.More items...

Advance directives have no expiration date, so review them every five or 10 years and revise them if your situation or your health changes.

Advance directives do not expire. An advance directive remains in effect until you change it. If you complete a new advance directive, it invalidates the previous one. You should review your advance directives periodically to ensure that they still reflect your wishes.