Document your health care preferences

Icons white 03

Think about your health care wishes, then communicate them

People have different values and preferences when it comes to making decisions about their health care. For example, some patients want to be more involved in their treatment decisions with their doctors than others. Or, when seriously ill, some people want aggressive treatments that may help them live longer, while others prefer to avoid treatments that could leave them feeling worse.

Talk with others

First, think about your health care wishes. Who do you want to make medical decisions on your behalf if you are unable to make them yourself? Are there circumstances under which you would not want to receive life-sustaining treatment?

Then, share your preferences. Talk through your decision with family, caregivers and doctors.

Complete paperwork to document your wishes

Massachusetts has five key health care planning documents — these are “living” documents that can be updated at any time.

  1. Health Care Proxy
  2. Personal Directive
  3. Durable Power of Attorney
  4. Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST)
  5. Comfort Care/Do Not Resuscitate Order (CC/DNR)

Learn more about these documents and how to talk about them with your health care providers at Honoring Choices Massachusetts.

Be sure to make copies of the paperwork for family members or others who need to know about your preferences and give them to your doctor's office so they can be filed in your medical record.

Ready to make end-of-life plans?

Try this starter kit from The Conversation Project, a respected national organization that helps people talk about their wishes for care at the end of life.