{"id":70834,"date":"2026-04-14T15:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T22:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/?p=70834"},"modified":"2026-04-13T15:21:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T22:21:43","slug":"plan-in-advance-for-your-end-of-life-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/news\/plan-in-advance-for-your-end-of-life-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan in Advance for Your End-of-life Care"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article\">\n\t<header class=\"header\">\n\t\t<span class=\"type\"><\/span>\t\t<h1>Plan in Advance for Your End-of-life Care<\/h1>\t\t<time>April 14, 2026<\/time>\n\t<\/header>\n\t<div id=\"block_974b8d4b167348245113c91e88896ac2\" class=\"shs-block block-news-article entry-content\">\n\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p>Do your health care providers and loved ones know what medical care you wish to receive in the future \u2013 even if you are unable to speak for yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key legal documents, including advance directives, POLST and powers of attorney, are essential to ensuring your doctors and loved ones understand your health care choices. Common scenarios where such documents are needed include terminal illness, severe brain injury or when someone is in a coma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Advance Directives <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Advance directives allow you to name a health care representative and provide specific medical instructions, especially regarding life-sustaining treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">POLST<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Portable orders for life\u2011sustaining treatment (POLST) are for patients with serious illnesses and translate your treatment preferences into actionable<br>directives for first responders and health care providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Power of Attorney<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Powers of attorney allow a designated agent to make decisions for you if you are incapacitated. A general power of attorney typically covers broader decisions but doesn\u2019t always include health care, unless specifically mentioned.<br><br>Talk with your health care provider about what documents you should consider completing, then regularly review them and make sure they are accessible to your loved ones and care team. These key legal documents can help ensure the care you receive is in line with your values and wishes, even when you are unable to speak for yourself.<br><br>Learn more about these important legal documents at <a href=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/patient-visitors\/health-resources\/advance-directives-polst-forms\/\">samhealth.org\/PlanAhead<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<aside>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Advance-Directives-Paperwork-CO.jpg\" class=\"attachment-cta size-cta wp-post-image\" alt=\"Advance directive paperwork\" srcset=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Advance-Directives-Paperwork-CO.jpg 360w, https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Advance-Directives-Paperwork-CO-300x250.jpg 300w, https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Advance-Directives-Paperwork-CO-120x100.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/figure>\t\t<\/aside>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how advance directives, POLST and powers of attorney help guide loved ones and health care providers when it matters most.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":67276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_shs_workflow_notes":"","_shs_exclude_from_navigation":false,"_shs_promote_article_on_blogs":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"news-topics":[293],"news-types":[270],"services":[238,242],"specialty":[9],"class_list":["post-70834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","news-topics-wellness","news-types-feature-article","services-family-medicine","services-hospice-palliative-care","specialty-family-medicine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70835,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70834\/revisions\/70835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70834"},{"taxonomy":"news-topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topics?post=70834"},{"taxonomy":"news-types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-types?post=70834"},{"taxonomy":"services","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/services?post=70834"},{"taxonomy":"specialty","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/specialty?post=70834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}