- Home Care Association of America http://www.hcaoa.org/
- National Institutes of Health https://health.nih.gov/
- Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations https://healthfinder.gov/
- Caregiving – Insights, Information, Inspirations https://caregiving.com/
- National Association for Home Care and Hospice https://www.nahc.org/
- Association of Care Services At Home https://www.acsah.org/
- Parkinson’s Foundation http://www.parkinsonsfoundation.org/
- Epilepsy Foundation https://www.eftx.org
- Alzheimer’s Foundation www.alz.org/dallasnetexas
- The Conversation Project www.theconversationproject.org
- The Forgiveness Project www.theforgivenessproject.com
- Feed My Starving Children https://www.fmsc.org/
- Mayo Clinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/
Advanced Directives
Advance directives are legal documents that allow you to spell out your decisions about end-of-life care ahead of time. They give you a way to tell your wishes to family, friends, and health care professionals and to avoid confusion later.
An advance directive is a set of instructions someone prepares in advance of ill health that determines his healthcare wishes. For example, a living will is one type of advance directive that becomes effective when a person is terminally ill.
Types of Advance Directives
- The living will
- Durable power of attorney for health care/Medical power of attorney
- POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment)
- Do not resuscitate (DNR) orders
- Organ and tissue donation
What Happens If I Don’t Make an Advance Directive?
You will receive medical care regardless of whether or not you have an advance directive. However, there may be a greater chance you will receive the types of care and treatments you want if you have an advance directive.
The Five Wishes
- Wish 1: The Person I Want to Make Care Decisions for Me When I Can’t.
- Wish 2: The Kind of Medical Treatment I Want or Don’t Want.
- Wish 3: How Comfortable I Want to Be.
- Wish 4: How I Want People to Treat Me.
- Wish 5: What I Want My Loved Ones to Know.
Helpful resources for advanced directives
The links below help with will planning, Medical Power of Attorney (MPOA), and Financial Power of Attorney (FPOA)
- Legal Zoom www.legalzoom.com
- Texas State Website https://www.texas.gov/