You have the right to make basic decisions about the medical and health care services you receive from your physician or other health care providers. You have the right to accept, refuse or take away any treatment. You also have the right to give informed consent before diagnosis or treatment. The federal Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990 requires health care providers and some insurance plans to tell you about your specific right to issue advance directives allowed in your state.
Written statements, prepared in advance of a serious illness, in which an individual can state his/her preferences when a treatment decision is necessary.
Advanced instructions telling how a person wants his or health care administered in the event that the person is unable to make decisions for himself. Also called a "Living Will."
legal documents stating a patient's medical preferences in the event the patient should become incapable of voicing his/her opinion. These documents must be completed by any patient 18 years of age and older.
Difficult issues concerning end-of-life care have led patients and health-care professionals to work together to formulate clear expressions of patients' wishes in view of the incapacity to communicate or to reason clearly that accompanies debilitating conditions. [See Case Studies related to Advance Directives
Legal document in which a patient states his or her medical care preferences, should he or she become incapacitated
a general term that describes two kinds of legal documents (see living wills and durable powers of attorney). These documents allow a person to give instructions about future medical care should he or she be unable to participate in medical decisions due to serious illness or incapacity. Each state has their own regulations concerning the use of advance directives.
(also known as Advance medical directives) Refers to a set of documents including a living will, a durable power of attorney, and a proxy statement (see below for individual definitions) instructing the physician to provide, continue, withhold, or withdraw life-sustaining procedures in the event of a terminal condition. AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) A disease in which normal defense mechanisms against infections and cancer are reduced.
legal documents -- such as living wills and durable powers of attorney for health care decisions -- that detail a person's wishes regarding medical treatment prior to an illness or accident that makes him or her unable to do so.
legal documents stating a patient's medical preferences in the event the patient should become incapable of voicing his/her opinion. (See also durable power of attorney and living will.)
legal documents, such as living wills and durable powers of attorney for healthcare decisions, stating a patient's medical preferences in the event the patient should become incapable of voicing his/her opinion.
You explain what kind of medical treatment you want -- or do not want -- if you can't make your wishes known because of illness or an accident. You can explain what you want by telling someone or writing it down. There are two types: living wills and durable power of attorney.
Instructions (usually written) from a competent individual that stipulates the forms of medical treatment to be provided by caregivers and/or designates someone to act as a proxy should the person at some future date lose decision making capacity. Living wills and durable powers of attorney for health care documents are common examples. Legal provisions vary from state to state.
documents (such as a Living Will) completed and signed by a person who is legally competent to explain his or her wishes for medical care should he or she become unable to make those decisions at a later time.
Legal documents including a Living Will and Medical Power of Attorney for Health Care that enable individuals to indicate their wishes about medical treatment and end-of-life decisions in case they are medically or mentally incapacitated when these decisions need to be made. These documents may also include a Durable Power of Attorney that allows a designated person to make financial and legal decisions for someone who is unable to do so themselves.
A general term describing living wills and medical powers of attorney.
Written ahead of time, this is your statement of how you want to get health care, in case you can't say how. Such health care could include routine treatments and life-saving methods. You can also choose someone to make medical decisions in case you can't. Advance Directives are also called a Living Will.
Living wills for Medicare beneficiaries. The Health Care Financing Administration requires that these be distributed to all Medicare members when they are admitted to hospitals, even if it is a readmission.
Advance directives are legal documents stating your wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment. Common advance directives include the Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.
Written or oral declarations, by individuals capable of making informed and voluntary decisions, indicating preferences regarding future medical treatments. For example, they may indicate a preference for or against certain medical interventions in specified clinical situations. Or they may specify surrogate decisionmakers, in the event that the individual becomes incapacitated. Advance directives are of two kinds: instruction directives and proxy directives. (See below)
Advance directives clearly identify the extent of medical care that you wish to receive if you are unable to speak for yourself. They include living wills, durable powers of attorney, do not resuscitate orders (DNROs), and appointments of health care surrogates.
Documents that state your choices for future medical treatment if you are unable to make these decisions or choices yourself. The four documents are: Living Will Health Care Power of Attorney Mental Health Care Power of Attorney Do-Not-Resuscitate Order
A written document stating how you want medical decisions to be made if you lose the ability to make them for yourself. It may include a Living Will and a Durable Power of Attorney for health care.
an individual's right to make decisions about his or her health care. assisted living - as defined in Senate Bill 545, April 1996, a facility that provides housing and supportive services, supervision, personalized assistance, health-related services, or some combination that meets the needs of individuals who are unable to perform or who need assistance in performing the activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living in a way that promotes optimum dignity and independence for the individuals.
Written documents, completed and signed when a person is legally competent, that explain a person’s medical wishes in advance, allowing someone else to make treatment decisions on his or her behalf later in the disease process.
legal documents that tell the doctor and family what a person wants for future medical care, including whether to start or when to stop life-sustaining treatment