Make a Health Care Plan That’s Right for You
ILCNSCA has partnered with Honoring Choices Massachusetts to bring you up-to-date health care planning information and MA planning tools. You can make your own health care plan or help a loved one or friend make a plan to promote wellness and lifelong quality person centered care.
How do you Make a Health Care Plan?
Honoring Choices has an easy to use 3-Step Planning Guide that helps you:
- EXPLORE: consider information and reflect on your beliefs to make choices for care,
- PLAN: use Massachusetts documents to communicate your choices, and
- CONNECT: put your plan into action to promote wellness and honor your choices.
The Honoring Choices website has comprehensive health care planning information and tools contributed by local experts and leaders. Read more at www.honoringchoicesmass.com
What’s in Your Health Care Plan?
Here are the health care planning documents we use in Massachusetts that help communicate your choices for care. If you are competent and 18 years old and older, you can start to make a plan by completing a Health Care Proxy, and add and revise documents over time as your health needs and preferences change. You choose the documents that are right for you. A Health Care Proxy, a Personal Directive (Living Will), and a Durable Power of Attorney are recommended for the best protection of your rights under Massachusetts law.
- Massachusetts Health Care Proxy
This is a simple legal document in which you choose and write down the name of a trusted person, called a Health Care Agent, to make health care decisions on your behalf if one day you are not able to make medical decisions yourself. You can complete this document yourself.
Download Health Care Information here
Download a free Health Care Proxy form here
- Personal Directive or Living Will
This is a personal document, not legally binding, in which you give your Health Care Agent instructions and information about your preferences and choices for care. You can complete this document yourself.
Download Personal Directive Information here
Download a free Personal Directive here
- Durable Power of Attorney
This is a legal document in which you choose a trusted person to manage your money, property, and business matters and make financial decisions, including how to pay for and arrange for care, if you become unable to make financial decisions yourself. It is recommended you complete this legal document with the help of an attorney.
Download Durable Power of Attorney Information Here
- Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment or MOLST
This is a medical order and a document for adults with serious or terminal illness, in which you talk with your clinician and write down your choices about the use of life-sustaining treatments. You complete a MOLST form with your clinician.
Download MOLST Information here
- Comfort Care/Do Not Resuscitate Order (CC/DNR)
This is a medical order and document in which you talk with your clinician about your choice to receive comfort care measures, but not to have medical personnel attempt to restart your heart beat and breathing, if your heart beat and breathing stop. You complete a CC/DNR form with your clinician.
Download CC/DNR Information here
Why Make a Health Care Plan?
Health Care Planning is not about one document or one conversation, but a process to get the best possible care all through your life that matches your values and choices. It’s both an Everyday Care Planning with your clinicians for proactive, preventative care; and Advance Care Planning to choose a Health Care Agent and write down the kind of care you want if you are unable to make health care decisions yourself.
A Health Care Plan is your personal roadmap for quality care that:
- Protects you and your rights to get the care you want
- Supports your family and friends in knowing how to care for you,
- Helps your doctors and care providers match the best possible care to your preferences and choices all through your lifetime and at the end of life.
About Honoring Choices Massachusetts
Honoring Choices is a consumer focused, non-profit organization that informs, empowers and helps adults make a health care plan and connect to care that honors their choices, all through their lives. Working together with the Community Partners, our mission to help ensure all Massachusetts adults have access to early and on-going health care planning to promote wellness and lifelong person centered care. Visit the website at www.honoringchoicesmass.com.
