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What Is... Advanced Care Planning?

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Advance care planning means making decisions about the care you would want to receive should you become unable to speak for yourself. These are your decisions to make and they are based on your personal values and preferences.

Advance care planning involves communicating your wishes to loved ones and health care providers to guide and comfort them if something should happen to you. Establishing advance directives is an important part of advance care planning. Advance directives are legal documents that offer directions for your health care should you become unable to speak for yourself. A living will, on type of advance directive, provides directions to health care providers on the treatment you would want (and would not want) if you are faced with an end-of-life situation. A health care power of attorney or durable power of attorney is another type of advance directive that appoints a person of your choice to speak on your behalf, should you become unable to do so.

State-specific advance directives, brochures about advance directives and other information about advance care planning can be found at www.nhpco.org.

Posted in: Advanced Planning, Glossary, Glossary

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