Choosing a health care agent

Who makes a good health care agent

Choosing a health care agent is an important decision. Here are some questions to help you decide:

• Who knows me really well?
• Who will respect my wishes, even if they are different from their own?
• Who can make hard choices, even when emotions are high?
• What if you don’t pick a health care agent

What if you don’t pick a health care agent

Some people don’t have someone to choose or decide not to name an agent. If that’s the case, it’s even more important to clearly share your values, priorities, and health care wishes.

You can do this in a few ways:

• Talk about your values and health care choices with friends, family, and others close to you. These talks help others understand your wishes so they can help make decisions if needed.
• Share your values and priorities with your doctor regularly. This helps your doctor understand what kind of care you would want.
• Use the Advance Health Care Directive to explain what care you would or wouldn’t want in certain situations. Be as clear as possible so your doctors have the information they need.

Once your doctor knows your wishes, they will add them to your medical chart. That way, in an emergency, your doctor will know what kind of care you prefer.