Written by Lindy Yokanovich
A health care directive is a document that allows you to make your medical wishes known to others if you can no longer make or communicate your health care wishes. It is a written document, often provided in the form of a template by an attorney or that you can request directly from your health care provider. A health care directive is also important if you’d like to appoint other people to make health care decisions on your behalf.
Having a health care directive isn’t required, but having one is helpful to make sure that your wishes are followed.
After you have completed a health care directive, make sure that your treating facility has a copy of it stored in your health care record and that your loved ones know of its existence.
If you live in Minnesota and have any questions, you can contact Cancer Legal Care at 651-917-9000 or help@cancerlegalcare.org.
If you live outside of Minnesota, information about free legal resources available to you in your state can be found here.
