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Don't Want Your Advanced Directive Lost? There's an App for That!

By HERWriter Guide
 
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don't lose your advanced directive: there's an app for that Auremar/PhotoSpin

There seems to be a lot more talk about Last Will and Testaments than advanced directives but the latter can be just as important. An advanced directive, or AD, is similar to a living will but holds legal authority that doctors or family must abide by, and the AD is written and controlled by the patient herself.

Advanced directives are very important because they instruct family members and medical personnel what to do in the case of illness, medical emergencies and end-of-life care.

A major concern with family and medical professionals is not just that a patient may lack an AD, but also that they may not be able to find the AD in the case of an emergency.

Filed away carefully, medical and financial directives may be unattainable if a patient is ill when out of town, if they cannot remember where they stored their papers, or if they are unable to speak or write.

It's a good idea to give a copy to an attorney or trusted person, but an even better idea is downloading an app that can have your AD at the tip of your fingers in the event that it becomes necessary to have it.

The New York Times reports on one such app called My Health Care Wishes. This app allows a person to download their documents and have them emailed or otherwise sent to necessary persons.

Not only that, but the directives of others can also be stored so that entire families can have their legal documents stored together if they wish. This can be very helpful when there are memory impaired family members as well as young children or family members who live far away.

The My Health Care Wishes app is free of charge if storing just one AD. For a small fee of four dollars, it can hold an unlimited amount of documents for whomever you choose.

DocuBank (fee paying) and MyDirectives (free) are other options. Using this kind of technology can really help family members and doctors alike, in case of accident or illness. Downloading comes with instructions and is easy to do.

For more information on the app, click here: http://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_aging/MyHealthCareWishesApp.html

Ask a family member or trusted friend for help if you need it on how to import and store your AD. Let people know that you have this app on your phone.

So how does one go about getting an AD in the first place? It isn't difficult. Your doctor will have forms you can fill out.

These will let family and medical personnel know if you want to be resuscitated in the case of emergency, if you want to be kept on a life support system should you suffer a brain injury, or if you want to be put on a respirator if you can no longer breathe by yourself.

You can also decide on tube-feeding, surgery and all the other medical options you would be offered if you were in a position to answer them yourself.

You can also download the forms over the internet, using a site like caringinfo.org/ It’s important to remember that every state has its own version of an advanced directive although most are very similar to each other.

Download your state’s verson here: http://www.caringinfo.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3289/

Caringinfo.org also offers this important advice:

"Advanced directives do not expire. An advanced directive remains in effect until you change it. If you complete a new advance directive, it invalidates the previous one. You should review your advance directives periodically to ensure that they still reflect your wishes. If you want to change anything in an advance directive once you have completed it, you should complete a whole new document.

"Advanced directives can also be done via an attorney although an attorney is not necessary. But once you sign the proper forms in front of the required and appropriate witnesses, your AD is legally valid. "

Everyone over the age of 18 should have an AD. It’s important that everyone’s medical wishes should be adhered to if they can no longer make those decisions themselves. Your medical team and family will thank you for it.

Sources:

The New York Times. The New Old Age. Caring and Coping. “ The Documents You Need, When You Need Them”. Web. Retrieved May 13th, 2014.
http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/the-documents-you-need-whe...

Caringinfo.org. What Are Advanced Directives? Web. Retrieved May 13th, 2014.
http://www.caringinfo.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3285

Reviewed May 16, 2014
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith

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We value and respect our HERWriters' experiences, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice, although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.

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