Senior living communities regularly work with residents and families who have made plans for future healthcare needs.
One of the most important documents a resident may have is an advance healthcare directive.
According to the National Institute on Aging, advance directives allow individuals to communicate their healthcare wishes and designate someone to make healthcare decisions if they become unable to communicate or make those decisions themselves. Read the National Institute on Aging’s guidance on advance directives
For senior living communities, this creates an important practical consideration:
If a resident has an advance healthcare directive, where is it stored, and how can it be accessed when needed?
Why Advance Healthcare Directives Matter
An advance healthcare directive can provide important information about a resident’s healthcare wishes.
It can also identify a person who may be responsible for making healthcare decisions on the resident’s behalf.
When a resident is able to communicate, they can explain their preferences themselves.
When they cannot, the advance directive can provide important guidance.
That is why families and residents often take time to complete these documents.
But once the document has been completed, another question remains:
Where should it be stored?
Accessibility Is Different From Simply Having a Document
An advance healthcare directive may be perfectly valid and still be difficult to locate.
It could be:
- In a filing cabinet at home
- In a safe
- With a family member
- With an attorney
- In a medical record
- In another document storage system
The National Institute on Aging recommends sharing advance directive information with appropriate people involved in a person’s care. Read the NIA guidance on advance directives
That makes accessibility an important practical consideration for residents and their families.
What Happens When an Emergency Occurs?
Consider a resident who suddenly requires emergency medical care.
The resident may be unable to communicate.
Family members may not be immediately available.
Healthcare professionals may need important information.
The resident may have an advance healthcare directive, but someone still needs to know where it is and how to access it.
This is the gap that Legal Directives addresses.
Legal Directives Stores Advance Healthcare Directives
Legal Directives is not an advance directive creator, law firm, or healthcare provider.
Legal Directives provides a secure place to store an individual’s advance healthcare directive.
Through the Legal Directives Medical Access Program, an individual can store their advance healthcare directive so it can be accessed when needed.
Legal Directives also provides an Emergency Wallet Card that identifies the individual’s Legal Directives information.
The concept is simple:
The directive is created separately. Legal Directives stores it.
Why Storage Matters for Senior Living Residents
Residents may spend time away from their home or primary family members.
They may travel.
They may visit doctors.
They may be transported to a hospital.
An advance healthcare directive stored only in a location that is difficult to access may not be immediately available during one of these situations.
Having a designated location for the document can make it easier for the appropriate people to locate the information.
Legal Directives is designed specifically for this purpose.
Keeping the Stored Document Current
Residents should also be aware that advance healthcare directives can change.
The National Institute on Aging recommends reviewing advance directives periodically and after major life changes. Read the NIA’s guidance on advance directives
When a resident replaces an old advance healthcare directive with a new version, the stored document should be updated as well.
For Legal Directives members, that means making sure the most recent version of the advance healthcare directive is stored in their Legal Directives account.
A Practical Question for Senior Living Communities
For senior living communities and the families they serve, one simple question can help highlight the importance of accessibility:
If a resident experienced a medical emergency today, would the appropriate people know where to find their advance healthcare directive?
The answer may be yes.
But if the answer is uncertain, the issue may not be whether the resident has an advance directive.
It may simply be where the document is stored.
Legal Directives Keeps the Focus on Storage
Advance healthcare directives are important documents. Legal Directives does not create those documents or provide legal or medical advice.
Instead, Legal Directives provides a dedicated place to store advance healthcare directives and make them accessible when needed.
For residents, families, and senior living communities, that can provide an additional layer of organization around an important document.
Create your advance healthcare directive. Store it with Legal Directives. Know where it is when it matters.
Source
National Institute on Aging, “Advance Care Planning: Advance Directives for Health Care.” Read the full NIA article