Online Will Blog

Understanding Health Preferences Planning

Health preferences planning encompasses the process of reflecting on, documenting, and communicating your wishes regarding medical care. This proactive approach goes beyond basic advance directives to create a comprehensive framework for healthcare decision-making aligned with your personal values.

Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrates that comprehensive health preferences planning significantly increases the likelihood that patients receive care aligned with their wishes and reduces family distress during medical crises.

Effective health preferences planning typically includes:

• Documenting specific treatment preferences through advance directives
• Appointing healthcare representatives through healthcare power of attorney
• Creating physician orders like POLST forms for those with serious illness
• Articulating values and quality-of-life considerations
• Having meaningful conversations with loved ones and healthcare providers

This integrated approach ensures your medical care reflects your personal choices in any circumstance.

The Core Components of Comprehensive Health Preferences Planning

Effective health preferences planning addresses several critical areas:

Living Will/Advance Directive: This foundational document specifies what medical treatments you would or would not want if unable to make decisions, particularly regarding life-sustaining interventions.

Healthcare Power of Attorney: This legal document appoints someone you trust to make healthcare decisions on your behalf if you cannot. The National Institute on Aging emphasizes that choosing the right healthcare agent is often the most important part of advance care planning.

Values Statement: This articulates your overall healthcare philosophy and quality-of-life priorities, providing context for medical decisions not specifically addressed in your advance directives.

POLST Form: For those with serious illness or frailty, Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment converts your preferences into actual medical orders signed by your doctor.

Organ Donation Instructions: These specify your wishes regarding organ, tissue, or body donation.

Evaheld's comprehensive planning tools help you address each of these components, creating a complete health preferences plan tailored to your specific wishes.

Clarifying Your Values and Preferences

Before completing legal documents, take time to reflect on what matters most to you regarding healthcare. Consider these fundamental questions:

• What gives your life meaning and joy?
• What circumstances would make life not worth living for you?
• How do you define "quality of life"?
• What role do religious or spiritual beliefs play in your healthcare decisions?
• How do you feel about trading quality of life for additional time?
• What experiences with others' illnesses have shaped your views?

The Conversation Project provides excellent resources for this reflection process, helping clarify your thinking about these profound questions.

Understanding your values provides the foundation for making specific medical decisions across various scenarios, creating consistency in your health preferences planning.

Documenting Specific Medical Preferences

Once you've clarified your values, document specific preferences regarding common medical interventions:

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR): Would you want attempts to restart your heart if it stops beating?

Mechanical Ventilation: Under what circumstances would you want a breathing machine, and for how long?

Artificial Nutrition and Hydration: Would you want tube feeding if unable to eat, and under what circumstances?

Dialysis: Would you want kidney dialysis if your kidneys fail, and for how long?

Antibiotics and Other Medications: Which medications would you want to receive in various circumstances?

Pain Management: How do you balance pain control against potential side effects like reduced alertness?

Hospice Care: Under what circumstances would you prefer comfort-focused care rather than curative treatments?

Healthcare providers emphasize that the more specific your documented preferences, the more effectively they can guide medical decisions that honor your wishes.

Selecting and Preparing Your Healthcare Representatives

Choosing the right healthcare agent represents a crucial aspect of health preferences planning. This person will make medical decisions on your behalf if you cannot, potentially in high-pressure, emotionally charged situations.

When selecting this important representative, consider:

• Their willingness to advocate for your wishes, even if others disagree
• Their ability to make difficult decisions under stress
• Their availability and proximity
• Their understanding of your values and preferences
• Their ability to ask appropriate questions of medical providers

Once selected, prepare your representatives through detailed conversations about your wishes. Studies demonstrate that healthcare agents who have had explicit conversations with patients feel more confident and less stressed when making decisions.

Evaheld provides specialized tools to facilitate these vital conversations, ensuring your healthcare representatives truly understand and can effectively advocate for your wishes.

Creating Legally Valid Documentation

Requirements for legally valid health preference documents vary by location, but generally include:

• You must be a competent adult when creating the documents
• Documents must be in writing
• You must sign the documents
• Witnesses typically must sign (witnesses generally cannot be your heirs or healthcare providers)
• Some jurisdictions require notarization
• Some regions require specific statutory forms

The team at Evaheld can guide you through your specific regional requirements while creating comprehensive documentation of your healthcare preferences.

While many online templates exist, creating health preference documents that truly reflect your personal wishes often benefits from professional guidance, whether from healthcare providers, attorneys specializing in elder law, or specialized advance care planning facilitators.

Ensuring Your Preferences Are Known and Accessible

Creating comprehensive health preference documents serves little purpose if they cannot be found when needed. Effective distribution strategies include:

• Give copies to your primary care physician and specialists for inclusion in your medical records
• Provide copies to your designated healthcare agent and alternates
• Discuss your preferences with family members who might be involved in your care
• If your region has an advance directive registry, register your documents
• Consider keeping a wallet card noting the existence of your advance directives
• Review digital storage options that provide emergency access

Evaheld provides secure digital storage for your health preference documents, making them accessible to authorized individuals when needed while maintaining privacy and security.

Addressing Special Circumstances in Your Health Preferences Plan

Standard health preference documents may not adequately address complex or specific medical situations. Consider these specialized approaches:

Dementia-Specific Directives: Traditional advance directives typically apply only when you cannot communicate, but dementia presents a more nuanced situation where you might still communicate but lack decision-making capacity. Dementia-specific directives provide stage-appropriate guidance.

Mental Health Advance Directives: These address preferences regarding psychiatric medications, therapies, and hospitalizations during mental health crises.

Pregnancy Provisions: Some states restrict the application of advance directives during pregnancy, so specific instructions may be necessary depending on your situation and location.

Religious or Cultural Requirements: Document any religious or cultural requirements regarding treatments, end-of-life care, or body disposition.

Evaheld's comprehensive planning platform helps identify these special considerations based on your unique situation, ensuring your health preferences plan addresses your specific needs.

The Critical Role of Conversations in Health Preferences Planning

While legal documents provide essential documentation, effective health preferences planning centers on meaningful conversations with loved ones and healthcare providers. These discussions ensure your written directives are properly understood and implemented.

Research shows that individuals who engage in these conversations are significantly more likely to receive care aligned with their wishes.

Consider structuring these conversations to cover:

• Your overall healthcare philosophy and values
• Specific scenarios that concern you most
• Why you've chosen particular healthcare representatives
• How to interpret your written directives in contexts not explicitly covered

The team at Evaheld provides discussion guides and resources for communicating effectively about these sensitive but critical topics.

Conclusion

Comprehensive health preferences planning represents a profound expression of self-determination and care for loved ones. By clarifying your values, documenting your wishes, and communicating effectively with healthcare providers and family members, you maintain control over deeply personal medical decisions even when you cannot communicate directly.

This planning often prompts valuable reflection on your values, beliefs, and what matters most at life's most challenging moments. These reflections, when documented and shared appropriately, provide invaluable guidance to healthcare providers and loved ones.

Remember that effective health preferences planning combines proper documentation with meaningful conversations about your wishes. With support from platforms like Evaheld, you can create a health preferences plan that truly reflects your unique values, preferences, and healthcare goals—providing peace of mind for yourself and clarity for those who care about you.