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Show Sanpete Messenger/Sanpete Messenger-Gunnison Valley Edition Wednesday, February 6, 2008 Advance directive gives patients options Don’t break the bank, Just to reach your clients. Single document now covers all ‘living will’ choices By Karen Prisbrey Staff writer GUNNISON—“New legislation has changed the way health care decisions are made for people who lack the ability to decide for themselves,” said Greg Rosenvall, administrator of the Gunnison Valley Hospital, in a hospital board meeting earlier this month. Rosenvall said that on Jan. 1, the new Utah Advance Health Care Directive Act went into effect, and repealed the Utah Living Will and Power of Attorney Health Care forms. These forms have been replaced with a single Advance Health Care Directive form. Utah and federal law gives every competent adult, 18 years or older, the right to make their own health care decisions, including the right to decide what medical care or treatment to accept, reject or discontinue. Your doctor is required to inform you about your medical condition and what treatments are available to you, but he cannot choose the course of treatment for you. The choice depends on what is important to you. The new directive act allows you to make personal choices for your health care should you be unable to speak for yourself. They are called “advance directives” because they are signed in advance to let your doctor and other health care providers know your wishes concerning medical treatment. This new legislation provides for a single document instead of three. It lets you select “triggering conditions” for treatment or non-treatment choices. Also it allows you identify an agent to speak for you, and gives that person more authority, although you can decide if that person must honor what you wrote or can make decisions based on the situation. The document also emphasizes your constitutional right to make your own decisions. Also, the new form provides more choices, clearly defined, and also explains that you don’t have to choose an agent or even fill out the form if you don’t want to. If you want every measure available to prolong your life, you are free to choose that option. You may also pick and choose which parts of the form you want to fill out. The form is easily changed or revoked if you communicate that desire. Maureen Henry, executive director of the Utah Commission on Aging, noted in an explanation before the state bar association that “previously there was a presumption by some health care providers that the mere existence of a living will meant that the individual wanted very limited or no care.” Henry cited an account of a “do not resuscitate” order improperly placed in a patient file because the individual said she had a living will. The woman became very sick with pneumonia and might have been restored to her former state of health if she had been given antibiotics; however, they were withheld because of the directive in her file. The directives you indicate on the form only take effect when you can no longer make your own health care decisions. As long as you are able to give “informed consent,” your health care providers will rely on you and not on your advance directives. Discuss your feelings with your family, your doctor, friends and other appropriate people, such as a member of your clergy A13 THIS SIZE AD to 200,000 subscribers in 40 Utah Newspapers for 1 insertion = $315.00 or your lawyer before writing down your instructions. You should keep these directives in a safe place where your family members can get to them. Do not keep the original copies in your safety deposit box. Give copies of these documents to as many of the following people as you are comfortable with: your spouse and other family members; your doctor, your lawyer; your clergy person, and any local hospital or nursing home where you may receive services. You may also want to carry a small wallet card that states that you have an advance directive and who should be contacted should you become unable to give the information. Living wills and related forms completed before Jan. 1 are still valid, but the law changed because these forms did not work very well. Individuals who wish to update and clarify their wishes should complete the new form, which can be obtained at the Gunnison Valley Hospital registration desk. For more information on the Advance Health Care Directives, visit aging.utah. edu/utah_coa/directives/index. html. Call your local newspaper to advertise statewide. 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