Patients will soon be able to submit their "advance directive on life-sustaining treatment," a document pledging to forgo meaningless life-prolonging medical care at the end of life, online. The ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a significant loss of life, often far sooner than individuals and families expected for their loved ones. This past year has raised conversations on health ...

States generally allow a person (principal) to appoint another person (agent) to make health care decisions, receive protected health information, or both on the principal’s behalf. In many states, ...

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and ...

The end of life sometimes begins with an advance directive. Learning about advance directives now may make things easier for your loved ones later, when they’re in a hospital room trying to decide ...

Some types of health conditions, like Alzheimer's disease, mean that at some point you might not be able to make your own decisions about the health care you get. In these cases, it helps to have ...

It’s a common hope that most people share: that their end-of-life wishes will be respected if something happened and they couldn’t make their own health care decisions. Yet only about a third of ...

Advance directives enable individuals to exercise control over their futures and ensure that the care they receive at the end of their lives is pursuant to their wishes. Yet, the majority of ...

An advance directive is a way to tell your loved ones and doctors your wishes if something happens and you can’t speak for yourself. A directive can include the type and extent of your medical care.