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Advance Directives Forms
You may be in robust health today. An emergency such as a car accident or a stroke could change that in a heartbeat, as could the diagnosis of a severe, life-threatening illness. Aging can also change your health landscape. If you haven't prepared advance directives or chosen a health care proxy, medical choices could be left to worried relatives or to a doctor or guardian appointed by a judge, none of whom may have a clear understanding of your values, beliefs, and preferences.
Advance Care Planning: A guide to advance directives, living wills, and other strategies for communicating health care preferences, helps guide you through the process of establishing advance directives and appointing a health care proxy.
Five key forms that can assist you are a Health Care Power of Attorney, a Health Decisions Worksheet, a Generic Living Will, a Sample POLST form, and an Advance Directives Tracking Sheet. You can download them here:
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Extreme heat endangers older adults: What to know and do
Want to cool down? 14 ideas to try
What is a PSA test and how is it used?
Blood sugar–friendly fruits if you have diabetes
Gratitude enhances health, brings happiness — and may even lengthen lives
Respiratory health harms often follow flooding: Taking these steps can help
Could tea tree oil help treat acne or athlete’s foot?
Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c): What to know if you have diabetes or prediabetes or are at risk for these conditions
What could be causing your blurry vision?
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Advance Care Planning
Living wills and health care proxies — documents known as advance care directives — give you a voice in decisions about your medical care at the end of life. Without these documents, choices may be left up to a doctor or a judge — someone who does not know your values, beliefs, or preferences. This Special Health Report, Advance Care Planning: A guide to advance directives, living wills, and other strategies for communicating health care preferences, will help you plan ahead and create legal documents to guide decision makers at this important time.
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