(The pdf for the issue in which this article appears is available for download: Bifocal, Vol. 41, Issue 1.)
Resources Corner
Giving Someone a Power of Attorney for Your Healthcare (multi-state guide and form). This booklet offers a simple durable power of attorney for health care, designed to meet the legal requirements in nearly all states. Research over the last 30 years has shown that instructions about end-of-life treatment choices, provided by relatively healthy adults long before they face serious illness, are often dated and too vague to be of guidance when tough decisions need to be made. This booklet and form focus on the single most important legal task—that of appointing a health care agent.
Toolkit for Health Care Advance Planning. Thinking of making a health care advance directive such as a living will or durable power of attorney for health care? This toolkit helps you to understand, clarify, and communicate what is important to you in the face of serious illness. It has nine tools, including “How to Select Your Health Care Agent or Proxy,” “Personal Priorities and Spiritual Values Important to Your Medical Decisions,” and “How Do You Weigh Odds of Survival?
Practical Tool for Lawyers: Steps in Supporting Decision-Making. The PRACTICAL Tool aims to help lawyers identify and implement decision-making options for persons with disabilities that are less restrictive than guardianship. “PRACTICAL” is an acronym for nine steps for lawyers to identify these options. Lawyers can use the PRACTICAL checklist of steps during the client interview and immediately after to assist in case analysis.