Advance Care Planning
It is important for everyone to think about who you would want to speak on your behalf, and the type of care you would want, if you were to become seriously ill or unable to speak for yourself.
Though the topic may be difficult to discuss, your values and priorities are important. The conversations around these values and priorities are what we call advance care planning. Advance care planning is meant to be an ongoing discussion.
We recommend that you discuss Advance Care Planning with your health care team and others important to you while you are feeling well and able to consider your choices.
Advance Directives
What Are Advance Directives?
The best way to document your Advance Care Planning discussions is to complete an advance directive, which leaves a guide for those important to you and those who will make health care decisions on your behalf.
Advance directives honor your right to participate in your own health care. An advance directive is a legal document that you fill out to communicate your preferences about your health care, in case you cannot make health care decisions for yourself.
You are able to change your documented preferences in your advance directive as things change in your life.
You should review any documents you have signed at least once a year and when your health changes. Your most recently dated document replaces earlier versions.
There are two types of advance directives recognized by the state of New Jersey: a proxy directive and an instruction directive.
Proxy Directive
A Proxy Directive allows you to choose a Health Care Representative who you want to make your medical decisions if you are unable to make them yourself. A Proxy Directive is also called Health Care Proxy or a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.
A Health Care Representative’s responsibility is to make health care decisions on your behalf. This is different from the responsibilities of a person named in a general Power of Attorney whose role is to make financial and other non-medical decisions.
At Hackensack Meridian Health, we provide our patients with an easily accessible Hackensack Meridian Health Advance Directive form. It contains both step-by-step instructions as well as Frequently Asked Questions, which will assist you in your completion of the form.
Proxy Directive
Instruction Directive
An Instruction Directive, also called a Living Will, is used to state your values and preferences about your health care in case you cannot make your own health care decisions.
A living will is not a medical order. Rather, it provides guidance to your health care team, those important to you and those who will make health care decisions on your behalf if you can no longer speak for yourself.
It also allows you to express what medical treatments you would and would not want in specific circumstances. A living will is most useful as a guide to decision making for patients who have no one to appoint as a Health Care Representative.
A number of living will templates are available for you to consider and personalize in order to document your goals, values, and preferences.
Please see the Hackensack Meridian Health Advance Directive form for step-by-step instructions and Frequently Asked Questions about Advance Directives.
Completing An Advance Directive
Advance directives are voluntary - it is up to you if you choose to have an Advance Directive. You may choose to have a Proxy Directive, an Instruction Directive, both, or neither.
If you already have an Advance Directive and it reflects your current preferences, you do not need to complete new forms, even if it was completed in a state other than New Jersey.
If you have a completed Advance Directive document, please bring a signed version with you to your next health care appointment.
You may wish to speak with a member of your health care team about your choices. You do not need to consult an attorney to complete an Advance Directive. You may choose to do so if you wish.
In order for an Advance Directive to be valid, you must sign and date the document in front of two witnesses OR a notary. The witnesses cannot be anyone you named to be your Health Care Representative or an alternate.
You can find step-by-step instructions on how to complete your Advance Directive using this Hackensack Meridian Health Advance Directive Form. NOTE: Please print the form ONE SIDED to ensure legibility.
Consider What is Important to You
Think about your values and priorities and what is important to you when it comes to your health care. Decide who you want to make your decisions if you cannot make them yourself.
Consider who knows you best, who you trust, and who will honor your choices. Think about what you want your health care team to know about you.
Consider talking with people close to you. Although it can be difficult, the best time to start the conversation and to complete an Advance Directive is when you are able to carefully consider your choices.
Your health care team can share the kinds of health care decisions that are important for you to think about.
How Advance Directives Are Used
It is important that you discuss the content of your advance directive with your health care team, those important to you and those who will make health care decisions on your behalf.
Please be sure to give copies of your advance directives to your Health Care Representative (and alternate Representative) and health care team.
Bring your advance directive to the hospital or other health care facilities for inclusion in the medical record. Federal and state law mandate that all care-providing facilities ask patients whether they have an advance directive and, if so, to ensure that a copy is in the medical record to guide decisions.
The provisions of an advance directive, including the powers of the Health Care Representative, are activated only when:
If you become unable to make your own health care decisions, your designated Health Care Representative will make health care decisions on your behalf. An Instruction Directive guides your health care team about your preferences for care if you are unable to make your own health care decisions.
If you have any questions or would like additional resources, please reach out to your health care practitioner or the Office of Patient Experience at your local hospital.
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