You may have specific wishes about the care you do or do not want to receive should you become critically ill. The time to have this conversation with your loved ones is not after it happens to you, when you may be unable to speak for yourself. There’s a lot of gray areas and opportunities to make decisions when you’re in a critical health care condition.
But incapacity planning allows you to document these wishes and to appoint someone else to make these decisions for you. You can use a Michigan durable healthcare power of attorney to assist in your planning process.
Many people do not understand how medical interventions actually work, and this begins with understanding the three types of care available when you’ve been diagnosed with a serious illness.
The first of these is known as comfort care, which relates to providing peace and alleviating painful symptoms during an illness. The second is medical care, which refers to the use of medications or other treatments like surgery. Your final option is intensive care which takes place in the ICU. Once you understand these various types of care, you can use your preferences and values to connect them to what treatments you do or do not want to receive. For example, you may want to avoid as much pain as possible, or live as independently as possible after medical care.
Appointing someone else to make health care decisions on your behalf can prove extremely helpful to your loved ones when you are unable to speak for yourself. This can allow for prompt medical decisions and interventions that align with your wishes, rather than putting additional stress on your family.
Schedule a meeting with a Michigan estate planning lawyer for more support in this area.