Advance care planning is your chance to let everyone know what you want to happen if a major medical event or accident affects your health and abilities. It’s like making a plan for “what if” situations and sharing it with trusted family, friends, and your care team. The final document you create is called an advanced directive. This document says what medical treatments you want or don’t want if you can’t make decisions for yourself.
The most common types of advanced directives are living wills and durable power of attorney for healthcare. A living will explains your wishes for end-of-life care. A durable power of attorney for healthcare lets you choose a person, also called a healthcare proxy, to make medical decisions for you if you can’t. This way, your wishes are clear, and the people who care about you know what you want.
