Advance Directive
Planning Your Living Will
We think you are the most important person who will ever be involved in your care. You have the right to make decisions about your care. We want you to be active in all your healthcare choices.
It is an unpleasant thought, but what if you became too sick to tell the doctor what you want your care to be? An Advance directive (also known as a living will) is a way to make sure that your wishes are known.
You can make decisions in advance of care or name someone, known as a Medical Power of Attorney, to make those choices if you cannot.
Creating Your Living Will
MHS Health Wisconsin recommends all of our plan members take the time to create a living will, designate a power of attorney and provide their advance directive to their primary care physician.
Once you have completed your advance directive, ask your doctor to put the form in your file. You can also talk to your doctor about the decision making process of creating your Living Will or Advance Directive. Together, you can make decisions that will set your mind at ease.
If you should ever need or want to, you can change your Advance Directive at any time. You should make sure others know you have an Advance Directive. You may also choose to designate a Medical Power of Attorney. That person should be made aware of your advance directive or living will as well.
With an Advance Directive, you can be sure that you are cared for as you wish, at a time when you cannot give the information.
Talking with your loved ones about end-of-life care
The Conversation Project is dedicated to helping people talk about their wishes for end-of-life care. Their Conversation Starter Kits are useful tools to help people have conversations with their family members or other loved ones about their wishes regarding end-of-life care. Visit The Conversation Project's website to download the following helpful kits:
- Conversation Starter Kit
Talking with your loved ones openly and honestly, before a medical crisis happens, gives everyone a shared understanding about what matters most to you at the end of life. You can use this Starter Kit whether you are getting ready to tell someone else what you want, or you want to help someone else get ready to share their wishes.
- How to Choose a Healthcare Proxy and How to Be a Healthcare Proxy
it’s important to choose a health care proxy – the person who will make decisions about your medical care if you become unable to make them for yourself. This new user friendly guide offers facts and tips necessary to make sound decisions about choosing, and being, a healthcare proxy.
- Conversation Starter Kits for Loved Ones of People With Alzheimer's Disease or Other Forms of Dementia
This Starter Kit is specifically designed to help families and loved ones of people with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia who want guidance about “having the conversation.” We appreciate the difficulty — and the importance — of having these conversations.
- How to Talk to Your Doctor
After you’ve had the conversation with your loved ones, the next step is talking to your doctor or nurse about your wishes. Don’t wait for a medical crisis; talking with your doctor or nurse now makes it easier to make medical decisions when the time comes.
- Pediatric Starter Kit: Having the Conversation With Your Seriously Ill Child
This Starter Kit is specifically designed to help parents of seriously ill children who want guidance about “having the conversation” with their children.