This tool addresses skills that are need to exercise advance directives. For our purposes, the definition of “advance directives” is as follows: “An advance healthcare directive, also known as living will, personal directive, advance directive, medical directive or advance decision, is a legal document in which a person specifies what actions should be taken for their health if they are no longer able to make decisions for themselves because of illness or incapacity. In the U.S. it has a legal status in itself, whereas in some countries it is legally persuasive without being a formal legal document. Legal requirements vary by state.” These advance directives are intended to help people deal with the potential of serious disability and end-of-life care choices before the individual is confronted with the often debilitating realities.

Published 2016.