Dealing with medical illness can be difficult, especially when it comes to making sure that who you are and what’s important to you stays in focus as you deal with medical choices along the way.
The process of thinking about your future wishes begins now…The more specific you can be about your wishes, the more likely you will be prepared for what’s ahead, and you can make sure your family and doctors are on board. You can get more specific by thinking through what might come up before it happens and deciding about your goals of care in different “what if” situations.
Knowing what you want is only half the process because there may come a time where you may not be in a position to speak for yourself when faced with a medical decision. Communicating your wishes to family and doctors will help others be able to decide for you based on what you want if you cannot do so yourself. There are documents you can use to pick someone to be your healthcare representative to speak for you if you can’t and for putting your choices down on paper for family and doctors to follow.
How It Works
Begin with your specialist.
Your specialist will be your guide through this process, you have already started by agreeing to participate in conversations about your future wishes.
Now, in a few short minutes,
you’ll walk through short process to help you think through what is important to you, what you find unacceptable and what your goals of care are in certain circumstances.
Our guided survey will help you express what matters most.
We’ll take you through a series of questions that will help you:
- Clarify what is important to you
- Explore what you might want if things were to change
- Identify what you consider unacceptable Quality of Life.
- Consider your preferences in possible circumstances
- Your Concerns
- Organizing Your Priorities
- If You Faced a Medical Crisis
At the end of the survey,
you’ll be able to review and download your preferences to help guide your medical care.
Schedule a call with your specialist
Your specialist will help you think about your preferences and how they relate to your goals of care. They will also start helping you thinking how you would like to communicate these wishes to others.
Return to the site to write down your wishes
You can come back to change or update your wishes at any time.
Start a conversation
Communicating your wishes to others is very important to ensure that your wishes are carried out.
Invite your proxy to visit this site
Your proxy can visit the site to learn about the role of a proxy and how they can help make sure your wishes are carried out.