Advanced Health Care Directives

Emergency Decision-Making

What happens if you become unable to make or communicate your health care decisions? If this happens, advance directives are documents that protect your right to refuse health care you do not want, or to request care that you do want. Capstone strongly encourages you to have one or more of these papers.

There are four types of Advance Directives:

  1. Living Will
  2. Medical Power of Attorney
  3. Mental Health Care Power of Attorney
  4. Pre-Hospital Medical Directive

Under Arizona law, the following types of health directives are used:

  1. Living Will. A written statement about follow-up health care you may or may not want if you cannot make your own health care decisions. For example, a living will can state whether you want feeding through a tube if you cannot eat or drink on your own, or if you are unconscious and unlikely to recover, and may need to stay alive with machines.
  2. Medical Power of Attorney. A written statement where you name an adult to make health care decisions for you only if you are found incapable to do so.
    4. Mental Health Care Power of Attorney. A statement in which you name an adult to make mental health care decisions, if you are found incapable to do so.
  4. Pre-Hospital Medical Care Directive. A piece of paper that states your wishes about refusing certain life-saving emergency care given outside a hospital or in a hospital emergency room. You must complete a special orange form.

For both a Living Will and a Medical Power of Attorney, you must choose someone to be your agent. Your agent is the person who will make decisions about your health care if you cannot make them yourself. You can choose a family member or a close friend.

Who Should Have a Copy?

It is very important that you give copies of the Advance Directives to your doctors right away and to any health care facility upon admission. You should also give copies to anyone you have named to make health care decisions for you in a health care power of attorney. You may also give copies to close family members and your DDD Support Coordinator. Be sure to keep extra copies for yourself. Review your Advance Directives and update it as needed.

Capstone Health Plan