Who Would Speak On Your Behalf When You Could No Longer Medically Speak For Yourself?
Consider this scenario. You are in a hospital with a terminal illness, unconscious, connected to all kinds of medical machines, and has a grave prognosis. Who will speak on your behalf during this time of illness? Who would tell the doctors, the nurses and your family what your medical wishes are if ever you get in this terrible and terminal condition? Who would let your caregivers know what you would like to happen to you and your body in such a situation like this? Would you like to be kept alive by all means? Or would you rather decide not to be subjected to futile treatments because this is not dignified living for you? But how would you let your caregivers know now that you are no longer capable to speak up for your yourself?
This is why Advance Health Care Directives are very important. As a clinical counselor and hospital chaplain for many years now, I have witnessed families break apart because they could not agree in making medical and end-of-life decisions. Their loved ones, who were unable to speak up for themselves, did not have an Advance Directive. Remember the Terry Schiavo case? I have witnessed many cases where, because patients did not have an Advance Health Care Directives, families and caregivers are plagued with guilt and constantly asked themselves if they were making the "right" decision for their loved one or for themselves. Yet, I have also witnessed many cases where, because patients had Advance Health Care Directives, their families and caregivers felt at peace, in spite of the pain, because they knew they were honoring their loved one's medical wishes as reflected on their advance directives.
What Are Advance Health Care Directives?
Advance Health Care Directives (AHCD) are legal documents that enable you to do the following:
1. Appoint or designate a primary and secondary power of attorneys for health care whom you trust to speak on your behalf and honor your medical wishes in an event that you could no longer speak up for yourself.
2. Appoint a primary physician whom you trust to be your doctor or caregiver.
3. Make your end-of-life wishes known.
4. Make your wishes known regarding organ donation.
5. Make your wishes known regarding pain control.
For an Advance Health Care Directive to be legal, it has to be signed by you (the person creating the document) before two witnesses. These witness could not be your designated power of attorneys or your immediate family members or your health caregivers. Close friends or distant relatives could be witnesses. If you cannot find witness, the document could be notarized by a notary. The notary can only notarize an Advance Health Care Directive if you have a valid and unexpired photo I.D. (e.g. driver license or passport).
I also would like to mention that a Living Will is a kind of an Advance Health Care Directive.
What Do You Do With Your Advance Health Care Directive?
Once you created your AHCD, you keep the original in an accessible place in your home. If possible, make several copies to give to your designated power of attorneys, your primary physician and to your hospital. I strongly encourage people to always bring a copy of their AHCD when they go to the hospital so the hospital can have a copy as well as know and honor your medical wishes. While creating an AHCD is not mandatory, it is a Federal Law that hospitals have to ask you during your admission if you have an AHCD.
Where Do You Get Advance Health Care Directive Forms?
Most hospitals have AHCD forms. You can always ask your hospital if they have available forms. You can also ask your doctor if he/she has a form. There are many websites now on the Internet that offer AHCD forms. Just do a search on "Advance Health Care Directives."
I believe that your completed (properly witnessed or notarized) AHCD is legally recognized in states other than your own. Since each state, I believe, has its own forms and probably laws on AHCD, the best thing to do is to bring a copy of your AHCD with you when traveling.
Who Can Fill Out An Advance Health Care Directive?
Many folks think that an Advance Health Care Directive is only for patients who are terminally ill. Not so. Any adult, 18 years old and above, can fill out an Advance Health Care Directive. I remember dealing with the family of a 20 year old woman who ended up on a persistent vegetative state (PVS) as a result of a car accident. Her parents ended up divorcing just because they could not agree as to what to do with her grave condition. Her mother believed that her daughter loved life so much that she would not like to be living in such a terrible medical condition. Her father thought otherwise. This could not have happened if, even at an early age, their daughter had an Advance Health Care Directive.
I strongly encourage you to talk to your doctor or family members about this very important yet difficult subject. I hope this blog has been a little help.
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