Advance Care Planning and Making Choices for Your Care
Guiding you through important healthcare decisions with clarity and compassion.
Advance care planning is sharing and documenting your wishes for future care to ensure your values and preferences are honored if you become unable to communicate. Advance care planning includes:
- Sharing your wishes and personal values with the people who matter most to you
- Electing an advocate to speak for you if you become unable to speak for yourself
Completing documentation that details your wishes (this documentation is called an Advance Directive and is also referred to as a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare) and giving a copy of this document to your doctors and chosen.
Advance care planning benefits everyone—you, your family, and even your healthcare providers. Here’s why:
- It gives you a voice in your own medical care and ensures that the care you receive aligns with your wishes, even if you become unable to speak for yourself
- It allows you to make decisions while you are able, instead of shifting this responsibility to the ones you love
- It gives you, those who surround you, and your healthcare providers peace of mind and assurance that your wishes are being carried out
Everyone should consider advance care planning, regardless of age or health. Planning sooner rather than later will ensure you get the care you want and that someone you trust will advocate for you if can no longer advocate for yourself.
It is especially important to consider advance care planning if:
- You are thinking about what you want your future medical care to include or not include
- You are living with a chronic medical condition, or multiple medical conditions, or are experiencing the early stages of cognitive impairment (like Alzheimer’s disease)
- You have been told by a doctor that you do not have long to live
The team at Harbor Palliative Care is available to answer questions or provide support if you would like assistance in putting together an Advance Directive/Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare. There is no charge for this service. Please call 231-722-0382 or 1-800-497-9559 if you have questions or would like to set up an appointment.
To get started with advance care planning:
- Reflect on your values, wishes, and treatment preferences, then share them with the people most important to you
- Choose someone you trust to speak on your behalf in case you become unable to speak for yourself
- Complete the Advance Directive/ Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare form
Where to Get Assistance
To obtain a hard copy of the form or for assistance in putting together an Advance Directive/Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare, please call 231-722-0382 or 1-800-497-9559 to set up an appointment. Give a copy of your Advance Directive/ Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare form to your chosen advocates and your doctors.
