Advance Care Plan Documents

Advance care directive

This document provides direction about your future medical care. It typically includes a living will, a durable healthcare power of attorney, and a statement about organ donation.

Do-not-resuscitate order

This is a type of advance care directive that tells your care team what they should and should not do if you stop breathing, if your heart beats with dangerous irregularity, or if the heart stops entirely.

Living will

This legal document expresses your wishes about life-sustaining medical treatment should you become unable to communicate. It’s often used if you’re terminally ill, meaning you have no reasonable chance of recovery.

Healthcare providers rely on living wills to guide their efforts within your own specified limits.

Healthcare power of attorney

This document allows someone to make all the healthcare decisions on your behalf if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. The person whom you designate to make these decisions will be guided by your living will.

The person with healthcare power of attorney has the authority to interpret your living will if there are questions about it and to make healthcare decisions that he or she believes are in your best interest.

Financial planning

One concern that nearly all heart failure patients and their families face is how to pay for the treatment and other medical needs. Your care team may know about ways to help you pay for medicines and other healthcare bills. Hospitals often have social workers who are skilled in this area, as well.