Each time you visit your physician you make decisions regarding your personal healthcare. You tell your doctor about your medical problems. Your physician makes a diagnosis and informs you about available medical treatment. You then decide what treatment to accept.

This process works until you are unable to decide what treatments to accept or until you become unable to communicate your decisions. Advance directives are a way to manage your future healthcare when you cannot speak for yourself.

"Advance directive" is a term that refers to your spoken and written instructions about your future medical care and treatment. By stating your healthcare choices in an advance directive, you help your family and physician understand your wishes about your medical care.

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