Advance Care Planning

• Talk to your loved ones about your choices. • Give a copy of your advance directive to your doctor, your patient advocate, and the hospital if you are a patient. The advance directive will become part of your medical record. [...] • A completed and signed advance directive is active until you decide to change it or cancel it. [...] • Once your advance directive has been entered into your medical record, it will be active until you ask for it to be removed or bring an updated copy. [...] • You were diagnosed with a serious illness such as cancer or Alzheimer’s disease? • You were in the hospital and unable to express your wishes? Who will speak for you when can’t? [...] Talk to your loved ones about the kind of health care you want if you become too sick to speak for yourself. [...] An advance directive is a form that allows you to write down the type of medical care that is most important to you and to name your patient advocate. [...] An advance directive is only used by the healthcare team when you can no longer speak for yourself. [...] Until that time comes, you will make your own health care choices. A durable power of attorney for healthcare (DPOA- HC) is a legally binding document that identifies the person that you select to be your patient advocate. [...] What is needed for my advance directive to be complete? [...] The state of Michigan requires the following for your advance directive to be legally valid.