Planning Your Autonomy in a Healthcare Crisis

Healthcare directives, also referred to as advance directives, hold significant importance in healthcare decision-making. These directives legally empower individuals to express their preferences and proactively make choices about their medical care, particularly in situations where they may be unable to communicate their wishes. By documenting their healthcare preferences, individuals can exercise control over their treatment options, ensuring that their autonomy, values, and beliefs are respected.

Healthcare directives promote personal autonomy and alleviate the potential anxiety faced by chosen family members and loved ones. These directives enable people to outline their treatment preferences, including choices regarding life-sustaining interventions, resuscitation, or specific medical procedures. By clearly articulating their wishes in advance, individuals ensure that healthcare providers and family members comprehend and honor their choices.

Healthcare directives play a crucial role in increasing personal autonomy by documenting preferences in advance, people can avoid having unwanted people have access to care decisions (such as with estranged family or an abusive partner).

The Comprehensive Crisis Companion hosts a section that includes further considerations that can be added to a healthcare directive, such as LGBTQIA+ healthcare considerations, conservatorship wishes, Dissociative Identity Disorder considerations, and experimental drug research.

AARP has maintain a list of healthcare directives by state located here: https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/free-printable-advance-directives/