This last one, my mother-in-law’s passing was a particular prompt. She knew for about 10 years before her death that her health was on a one-way trajectory, and that a time would come where she would be likely to suffer strokes, be unable to communicate, be bed-bound and more. She was clear that her wish was not to be kept alive, to be allowed to pass peacefully without invasive measures. She was clear that this included IV medications like antibiotics, feeding tubes and CPR. We did plenty of research and found that as well as having a Legal Power of Attorney (my husband in this case) and a DNR form, having an advance directive would allow her to make clear in a legally binding document what care she wanted to refuse while she still had mental capacity. That advance directive was invaluable in her later years, months, days and hours when doctors wanted to put in feeding tubes or give her IV meds, and we could clearly point to her wishes, written in black and white, stating that all she wanted was to be made comfortable.

When it comes to advance documents, there are two.

An Advance Directive (also known as an Advance Decision) is a document that outlines what care you wish to refuse in the future should you not be able to communicate for yourself at the time. You must be clear about the treatment you wish to refuse, you must be over the age of 18, you must have mental capacity (according to the Mental Health Act) at the time of writing and signing, and it must be witnessed for it to be legally binding. But if you fulfil those criteria, an advance directive becomes a legal requirement for doctors, and can be used in court.

An Advance Statement (also known as a Statement of Wishes) is a more general set of preferences about your care and can include things like food preferences, where you would like to be cared for, any religious considerations you’d like made in regard to your care and more. It is not legally binding but doctors should take into account your beliefs, values and wishes.

You can have both, and request both be put into your medical records. You can have family hold copies, and keep copies to hand at home with a clear sign that you have them in place for emergency services to find.

Mind have a great factsheet covering the above in more detail here.

I’ve recently written both. Not because I think anything will happen to me imminently, but I’d rather write them and file them away knowing it’s a job done that I don’t need to think about again, than find myself in a situation where I wish I had sat down and done them. I’ve turned the ones I’ve made for myself – based on ones I’ve found around the internet – into templates you might like to use or adapt. Just click on a button to download in Word.