Parkinson’s Disease and Advance Directives: Planning for Future Healthcare Decisions
Receiving a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis can bring questions about treatment, daily activities, and what life may look like in the years ahead. Legal planning may not be the first thing someone thinks about, particularly when they are still managing their own care and making decisions independently. Parkinson’s is a progressive condition, but it does not […]
Advance Directives and Family Conversations: What Americans Are Actually Doing
Advance directives are meant to help people plan for a time when they may not be able to make or communicate their own medical decisions. Yet many Americans do not create one until later in life. A 2025 Pew Research Center survey offers a closer look at how common advance directives are, when people tend […]
Five Wishes: What It Is and What It Covers
You may have heard of an advance directive as a way to put healthcare wishes in writing for a time when you cannot speak for yourself. Five Wishes is one type of advance directive, but it covers more than medical treatment decisions alone. It also gives you a place to name the person you want […]
What Happens to Your Old Advance Directive After You Create a New One?
Creating a new advance directive can feel like the end of the process. You reviewed your wishes, made the changes you wanted, signed the new document, and now have an updated plan. There is still one important step left. What happens to all the copies of your old advance directive? An outdated copy may still […]
Advance Directive FAQ’s: Answering the Most Common Questions
You may know that an advance directive can help communicate your wishes if you cannot speak for yourself. Still, knowing that you should have one does not necessarily answer all the questions that come with it. Is a living will the same thing? When does an advance directive actually take effect? What happens if you […]
Living Will, DNR or POLST: Why These Terms Shouldn’t Be Used Interchangeably
A living will, a DNR, and a POLST can all communicate important information about medical care. That does not make them interchangeable. One can describe wishes for future medical treatment. Another addresses whether CPR should be attempted if a person’s heart stops or they stop breathing. The third turns current treatment decisions into medical orders […]
HIPAA and Advance Directives: What’s the Connection?
You can have a healthcare power of attorney, a living will, a HIPAA authorization, and paperwork from your doctor’s office, and each one serves a different purpose. A healthcare power of attorney can give someone authority to make healthcare decisions for you when necessary. A living will records your wishes about certain medical care. A […]
Your Advance Directive Is Safe. Is It Accessible?
An advance directive is an important legal document, so keeping it somewhere safe makes sense. You want it protected from loss, damage, or access by people who shouldn’t have it. At the same time, an advance directive is a document that someone else may need when you can’t retrieve it yourself. That makes accessibility part […]
Advance Directives and Dementia: Why Earlier Conversations Matter
A dementia diagnosis can bring a long list of questions. What will change? How quickly will it happen? What kind of help may be needed later? It can also raise questions about future healthcare decisions. If there comes a time when you cannot make or communicate those decisions yourself, who would you want to speak […]
How to Create an Advance Directive: Where Do You Start?
You know you should have an advance directive. What are you actually supposed to decide before you create one? It can feel like a lot to figure out. What medical care would you want in a situation you’ve never faced? Who would you trust to make decisions for you if you couldn’t make them yourself? […]