Advance Directives

You have an opportunity to give your loved ones a tremendous gift so that during a health crisis they can focus on caring for you and not worrying about making the wrong decisions on your behalf.

Here are a few of the questions Advance Directives help you with:

• Who would you want to make decisions for you when and if you are unable to?
• What sort of medical treatment would you want…or not want?
• How comfortable do you want to be? If there comes a time to decide whether you would want to be awake or would prefer to be comfortable-would your loved ones know which is important you?
• How do you want people to treat you if you are unable to explain yourself to them?
• What do you want your loved ones to know?

Memorial Family of Services abide by all advance directives that are legal in Washington State. One advance directive that deals with all of the above questions and is easy to use is the Five Wishes document, available in 27 languages and accessible in hard-copy and electronically by clicking on Five Wishes, which will take you to the Aging with Dignity website (not associated with Memorial Family of Services).

Memorial Family of Services is dedicated to giving compassionate care. This includes acknowledging the patient's right to information about his or her health status. For additional questions or concerns, patients are encouraged to consult their physician or members of their health care team.

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