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The process of dying is frequently accompanied by a loss-of-control over life events. If it is important to you to have such control as is possible over the events that occur before, at, and following your death, then it is important that you become informed about the tools available to plan for and shape those events.
State laws across the country are beginning to give more and more attention to the right of an individual to exercise control over the end-of-life process. If you are going to influence this process, it is necessary that you take responsibility for becoming educated about your rights and the tools available to exercise those rights.
Advance Directives
Advance directives are legal documents that allow you to convey your wishes about end-of-life care ahead of time. It is impossible to overstate the importance of such documents in ensuring that your wishes for end-of-life care be fulfilled. Without them, decisions concerning your care will be made by family members or, as is often the case, by medical workers who may order every possible procedure to avoid the risk of being sued.
The documents cover such issues as resuscitation, dialysis and breathing machines, feeding tubes, and organ donation.
Downloadable versions of the advance directives for every state in the U.S is available here.
Here you will find information that will help you to:
- Understand your rights
- Discover the kinds of documents by which these rights are exercised
- Get assistance with the preparation of such documents
- Understand how to use these documents
- Understand the importance of selecting one or more advocates to champion your rights via these documents
Step 1) For Crestone residents, we recommend that you obtain the Complete CEOLP Registration packet, which includes:
- Official CEOLP registration form
- Vital Statistics Form
- Liability Release
- Our Donation worksheet
Download the CEOLP registration packet in PDF Format.
Currently, we are not allowed to include the the 5-Wishes Advance Directives document in our downloadable package, but it is included in our complete physical packet which you can obtain by calling our Registration Coordinator, Rainbow Adler at (719) 256-4640. We request a $10 donation to cover hard costs. Our synopsis of 5 Wishes and a link to obtain the document can be read below.
Step 2) Obtain the 5 Wishes Document
What is 5 Wishes?
Five Wishes has become America’s most popular living will because it is written in everyday language and helps start and structure important conversations about care in times of serious illness.
Five Wishes is changing the way America talks about and plans for care at the end of life. Five Wishes meets the legal requirements in 42 states (including Colorado) and is useful in all 50.
Five Wishes lets your family and doctors know:
Who you want to make health care decisions for you when you can't make them.
The kind of medical treatment you want or don't want.
How comfortable you want to be.
How you want people to treat you.
What you want your loved ones to know.
Hard copies are available for $5.00 from the Aging With Dignity website, or come as part of the CEOLP Registration package (with a requested $10 donation).
Step 3) Additional documents that can guide you in filling out the paperwork
Hard Choices for Loving People: CPR, Artificial Feeding, Comfort Care, and the Patient with a Life-Threatening Illness.
Hard Choices covers the most common medical treatment decisions faced by those who are living with a life-threatening illness. CPR (resuscitation efforts), artificial feeding, hospitalization of an ill person and shifting to a hospice approach are all considered in depth. This is an excellent companion guide to filling out the 5 Wishes and other Advance Directive documents. FREE as a digital (PDF) download from the A&A Publishers website, $6.00 for an individual printed copy, bulk discounts available.
Light in the Shadows: Meditations While Living with a Life-Threatening Illness.
This book is about finding hope in hopeless situations; being grateful in the midst of great losses; experiencing a connection to things eternal; living a meaningful life while considering the possibility of death; and getting to the root issues in medical treatment decisions. Each of these selections is written as a meditation with some thoughts to be pondered. They are meant to be companions for those with a life-threatening illness and their families. A beautiful guide to the more spiritual nature of end-of-life issues. FREE as digital (PDF) download from the A&A Publishers website, $6.00 for an individual printed copy, bulk discounts available.
If you require just the individual CEOLP documents, you can individually download each of them below:
CEOLP-Official Registration Form
EOL-Vital Statics Mandate
CEOLP-Liability Release
CEOLP-Donation Structure
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