Advance Directives
Please also see Section 8 on Elder Law/Estate Planning)
You have the right to make decisions about the healthcare you receive now and in the future. Advance Directives are written, legal statements that allow you to select someone you trust to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to make decisions for yourself, or would like help in healthcare decision making. They also give instructions about the type of medical care you would or would not want to receive. No one can predict when a serious illness or accident might occur. If you plan now, you can increase the chances that the medical treatment you receive will be the treatment you want. There are four kinds of written Advance Directives recognized in Illinois.
Power of Attorney for Health Care
A Power of Attorney for Health Care Form allows you to choose someone to make healthcare decisions on your behalf if you are unable or do not want to make them yourself. This person is called your “agent.” As someone you trust, this person will be relied upon to make healthcare decisions that are consistent with your personal values and wishes. Additionally, you can select up to two “successor” or back-up agents. The Power of Attorney for Healthcare Form also allows you to provide general instructions regarding the kind of medical care you wish to receive. Your Healthcare Power of Attorney agent and your document guide the medical team if your physician has determined that you are not able to make medical decisions, or if you would like help in making healthcare decisions. Please also see Section 8 on Elder Law/Estate Planning).
Living Will
A Living Will is a document that addresses care for the terminally ill. A Living Will only applies if you have an incurable and irreversible condition such that death is imminent. Completing a Living Will focuses your treatment on comfort and communicates that you wish to die naturally, foregoing treatments that would only prolong the dying process.
IL Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Form
A POLST Form is a medical order, signed by you, your healthcare provider and a witness, which reflects your wishes about receiving or not receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and other life-sustaining treatments. The form also allows you to specify your wishes regarding certain medical interventions and artificially administered nutrition. A completed POLST form is intended to be honored in the community and across various settings, including hospitals, nursing homes and by emergency medical services personnel. Your physician or a nurse specialist can assist you in creating a POLST document. This replaces the former Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) form.
Mental Health Treatment Preference Declaration
A Mental Health Treatment Preference Declaration Form allows you to decide in advance if you want to receive electroconvulsive treatment (ECT) or psychotropic medication when you have a mental illness and are unable to make these decisions for yourself. It also allows you to decide whether you wish to be admitted to a mental health facility for up to 17 days of treatment. You can write your wishes and/or choose someone to make your mental health decisions for you. The person you choose is called an “attorney-in-fact” and must accept the appointment in writing before he or she can start making decisions regarding your mental health treatment. The Mental Health Treatment Preference Declaration expires three years from the date you sign it. Refer to www.idph.org or your psychiatrist for additional information.
In addition to these four Advance Directives, the State of Illinois also recognizes 5 Wishes, which is a booklet that includes Healthcare Power of Attorney and Living Will forms along with helpful guidance for discussing individualized wishes for care and comfort. Five Wishes is available from Aging with Dignity, fivewishes.org