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Advance Care Planning

Home > Resources & Support > Advance Care Planning

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Your Wishes, Your Decisions

The best time to make decisions concerning your healthcare is while you are able to consider your wishes carefully and discuss them with your doctor, caregivers, family and loved ones. Advance care planning is a thoughtful process to plan for future healthcare choices, involving personal reflection and discussions about medical treatment preferences. Along with these important discussions, advance care planning involves putting your decisions for healthcare in a written document called an advance directive.

By establishing an effective advance care plan, you can help ensure that your decisions will be honored. Sharing your goals of care with clear instructions will give your loved ones peace of mind if they need to make difficult decisions for your care - the most valuable gift you can give them While no one is required to prepare an advance directive, all care providers are mandated by Florida law to make patients and families aware of them.

In the state of Florida, there are two major components of an advance directive - a Living Will and a Designation of Healthcare Surrogate.

A Living Will

  • Is a statement of your desires and decisions indicating what kind of medical treatment you do or do not want to receive
  • Should be discussed with your family, friends, clergy and doctor.
  • Goes into effect only if you are no longer able to communicate your wishes yourself.
  • Can be changed or revoked if your preferences change.

A Designation of Healthcare Surrogate

  • States that you designate and authorize another person to make medical decisions for you when you are no longer capable of doing so, based on your communicated preferences.
  • Allows you to include specific instructions if you have a certain medical condition.
  • Goes into effect if and only if you are unable to communicate your wishes.
  • Allows your surrogate to give informed consent, review medical records, talk with your physicians, authorize transfers to different healthcare facilities, apply for public healthcare benefits and consent to organ donation and make a needed decision for you if a situation occurs that you did not cover in this document according to your wishes.
  • Should appoint a competent adult who knows and respects your values, spiritual beliefs and preferences regarding medical treatment.
  • Should list an alternate surrogate in case your first choice becomes unable or unwilling to carry out your wishes.

The Hospice and Project GRACE can help you along your journey to make decisions about your care, and with the advance care planning process. Please contact us if you would like more information.

 
 
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