Advance Directives

“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.

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

Source: Indiana State Department of Health

Resources:
ISDH Document: ADVANCE DIRECTIVES: Your Right to Decide (consumers & professionals)

IAHHC Publication: The Patient Self Determination Act and Advanced Directives in Indiana (professionals)

Sample Living Will Declaration Form

Sample Life Prolonging Procedures Form

Sample Out of Hospital DO NOT RESUSCITATE Declaration & Order