Planning Ahead: How to Make Sure Your Loved One's Wishes Are Followed

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It's important to plan ahead and make sure your loved one's wishes are in order to ensure that their last months and weeks are spent as they envision. Whether you are in hospice or palliative care, your loved one should make sure their wishes are understood and followed.

Having a plan in place will make things much easier for your loved ones and support care team, as they will know their wishes are being honored. To help you get started, here are the documents you will need to make your loved one's wishes known:

  • Advance Directive: This document allows you to specify your loved one's wishes for medical treatments and other health care decisions.
  • Living Will: This document allows you to choose who will make decisions on your loved one's behalf if they are unable to do so.
  • Power of Attorney: This document allows you to designate someone to make financial and other decisions on your loved one's behalf if you are unable to do so.
  • End-of-Life Care Directive: This document allows you to specify your loved one's wishes regarding end-of-life care.
  • Financial Plan: This document allows you to ensure that your loved one's finances are in order and that they will be taken care of in case of their passing.

By taking the time to create these documents and making sure support care staff are aware of your loved one's wishes, you can rest assured that their final months and weeks will be spent as they wish.

Five Wishes

The Five Wishes is a document that covers legal end-of-life healthcare issues and addresses issues of comfort, spirituality, and final wishes. It is legal in 40 states and includes information about who should make healthcare decisions, the kind of medical treatment your loved one wants, how comfortable they want to be, how they want people to treat them, and what you want your loved ones wants to know. It is important to document your loved one's wishes if you are unable to convey them yourself. For more information about the Five Wishes, visit Aging with Dignity.