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North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services

   

    Advance Care Planning
    Advance Directives

    Advance care planning is deciding about the kind of health care that you want at the end of life. While alert competent adults are able to exercise their rights to make health care and financial decisions, problems arise when an individual becomes unconscious, incompetent, or otherwise unable to make such decisions. Advance health care directives are the legal documents in which you give written instructions about your health care if, in the future, you cannot speak for yourself.

    In order to avoid such a problem many people plan ahead by creating advance directives such as:
    durable power of attorney, health care power of attorney, and/or a living will.

    • A durable power of attorney is a legal document that allows you to appoint someone as your agent to manage your affairs should you be incompetent or incapacitated.

    • A health care power of attorney allows you to appoint someone to act as your health care agent to make health care decisions for you should it be determined by your physician that you are no longer able to make these decisions for yourself.

    • A living will is a legal document in which you can declare your desire that under certain conditions your life not be prolonged by extraordinary or artificial means. Advice and assistance with such matters for people unable to afford the services of a private attorney may be available through a Legal Aid office. See Legal Services.

    • Related Topics / Links

      1. The American Bar Association's Commission on Law and Aging offers a useful site dedicated to examining the law-related concerns of older persons.

      2. The NC Secretary of State's office has established an online registry that allows NC residents file up to four different advance directives. According to AARP, between 20-30% of adults are estimated to have advance directives, yet in nearly 35% of those cases, the directives cannot be found when needed. This registry helps eliminate this problem. To learn more about the registry, visit the website at http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/ahcdr/ or www.nclifelinks.org and click on the heart-shaped icon or call 919-807-2162.

      3. A step-by-step guide to advance care planning is provided by The Carolinas Center for Hospice and End of Life Care. The 23-page workbook is designed to help individuals and families plan for the care they want at the end of life. For more information, call 800-662-8859 or visit www.carolinasendoflifecare.org.

 

Last updated: June 28, 2005

 

 

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