Advanced planning is the process of making decisions, and outlining your preferences for treatment in the event that you are unable to do so in the future. It involves working with your family (or those closest to you) and healthcare providers to create an advanced directive, a legal document that allows you to express your end of life, healthcare wishes ahead of time.
As adolescents and young adults with chronic conditions, we represent a distinct patient population with unique medical and psychosocial needs. This is why it is crucial that we understand and discuss what is important to us in terms of quality of life and complete the legal documents to ensure that our wishes are respected.
View our complete Advance Planning Guide.
Glossary
From the American Hospital Association’s “Put it in Writing: Questions and Answers on Advance Directives”
Advance Planning Resources
Note: Although the terms living will and advance directive are often used interchangeably, here we use living will to refer to your directions about your wishes, and advance directive to refer to the combination of your living will and your health care proxy.
For States without registries, it is recommended that you file your directive at the US Living Will Registry. Some states use this registry as the official registry.
Many of these resources are labeled as for seniors. Advance directives are something everyone should have completed once they turn 18.
Considerations for Advance Directive
If your heart stops beating, would you want to be resuscitated?
If you could no longer breathe on your own, would you want to be put on a ventilator?
If you were unable to eat, would you want artificial nutrition to be administered?
State-Specific Resources
American Bar Association Advance Planning Toolkit
How to Select Your Healthcare Agent or Proxy → tool
How Do You Weigh Your Odds of Survival → tool
Personal Priorities & Spiritual Values Important to Medical Decisions → tool
After Death Decisions to Think About Now → tool
Conversation Scripts: Getting Past the Resistance → tool
The Proxy Quiz for Family or Physician → tool
What to Do After Signing Your Healthcare Advance Directive → tool
Guide for Healthcare Proxies → tool
Health Decisions Resources → tool