Advance Directives

The Importance of Advance Directives
Each time you visit your physician, you make decisions regarding your personal health care. You tell your doctor (generally referred to as a “physician”) about your medical problems. You then decide what treatment to accept. That process works until you are unable to decide what treatments to accept or become unable to communicate your decisions. Diseases common to aging such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease may take away your ability to decide and communicate your health care wishes. Even young people can have strokes or accidents that may keep them from making their own health care decisions. Advance directives are a way to manage your future health care when you cannot speak for yourself.

What is an Advance Directive?
“Advance directive” is a term that refers to your spoken and written instructions about your future medical care and treatment. By stating your health care choices in an advance directive, you help your family and physician understand your wishes about your medical care. Indiana law pays special attention to advance directives. Advance directives are normally one or more documents that list your health care instructions. An advance directive may name a person of your choice to make health care choices for you when you cannot make the choices for yourself. If you want, you may use an advance directive to prevent certain people from making health care decisions on your behalf. Your advance directives will not take away your right to decide your current health care. As long as you are able to decide and express your own decisions, your advance directives will not be used. This is true even under the most serious medical conditions. Your advance directive will only be used when you are unable to communicate or when your physician decides that you no longer have the mental competence to make your own choices.

Are Advanced Directives Required?
Advance directives are not required. Your physician or hospital cannot require you to make an advance directive if you do not want one. No one may discriminate against you if you do not sign one. Physicians and hospitals often encourage patients to complete advance directive documents. The purpose of the advance directive is for your physician to gain information about your health care choices so that your wishes can be followed. While completing an advance directive provides guidance to your physician in the event that you are unable to communicate for yourself, you are not required to have an advance directive.

What happens if you do not have an Advanced Directive?
If you do not have an advance directive and are unable to choose medical care or treatment, Indiana law decides who can do this for you. Indiana code § 16- 36 allows any member of your immediate family (meaning your spouse,parent, adult child, brother or sister) or a person appointed by a court to make the choice for you. If you cannot communicate and do not have an advance directive, your physician will try to contact a member of your immediate family. Your health care choices will be made by the family member that your physician is able to contact.

What Types of Advance Directives are Recognized in Indiana?

• Talking directly to your physician and family
• Organ and tissue donation
• Health care representative
• Living Will Declaration or Life-Prolonging Procedures Declaration
• Psychiatric advance directives Out of Hospital Do Not Resuscitate Declaration and Order
• Power of Attorney

For More information

Download the Advance Directive Brochure. Or contact the:

Indiana State Department of Health
2 North Meridian Street
Indianpolis, Indiana 46204
http://www.in.gov/isdh

Back to top