Before you begin!
Objective: Understand what a Living Will is and includes.
Important tip: A Living Will is NOT the same as a Last Will and Testament! It only refers to healthcare related choices.
A Living Will is a written, legal document that spells out medical treatments you would and would not want to be used to keep you alive, as well as your preferences for other medical decisions, such as pain management or organ donation.
Medical treatments: Which treatments you want and which you want to avoid, the most common examples include:
CPR, ventilators (a machine that breaths for you)pacemakers, antibiotics, providing nutrition through a feeding tube, IV hydration, and dialysis treatment.
Organ donation: Whether you want to donate your organs and tissues
Pain management: Your preferences for pain medication
Other decisions:
Palliative care; a specialized care team to address quality of life and support for individuals with chronic or serious illnesses
Hospice care: program that specializes in supporting a patient and their families when the individual is considered terminal and no longer want to pursue curative treatment. If focuses on quality of life and comfort care.
Funeral and burial preferences