Advance Directives

If you are 18 or older and mentally competent, you have the right to make decisions about your medical treatment. You can tell your family, friends, and health care professionals what kind of health care you would want or who you want to make decisions for you if you are too ill to speak for yourself with legal documents called Advance Directives. There are two kinds of Advance Directives:

• A health care proxy (durable power of attorney) is a document that names someone you trust to make health decisions if you can’t.
• A living will tells which treatment you want if your life is threatened, including:
  • Dialysis and breathing machines
  • Resuscitation if you stop breathing or if your heart stops
  • Tube feeding
  • Organ or tissue donation after you die
  • You may obtain an Advance Directive Form from your healthcare provider, attorney, or the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

Once you have created an Advance Directive:

1. Keep the original copies of your advance directives where you can easily find them.
2. Give a copy to your health care proxy, health care providers, hospital, nursing home, family, and friends.
3. Carry a card in your wallet that says you have an advance directive.
4. Review your advance directives each year.