Advance Directives: End-of-Life Issues and Policies

This explainer provides information on advance directives, which are legal documents that protect a patient’s right to refuse or request medical treatment in the event the patient becomes terminally ill, mentally incapacitated, or permanently unconscious.

An advance directive also allows for the designation of a healthcare proxy, or surrogate, to make decisions on behalf of the patient when these circumstances arise.

Topics include:

• What are advance directives?
• How are they created?
• What are the laws governing them?
• Who creates them?
• What are the benefits?
• What are some problems or weaknesses with them?