OREANDA-NEWS. September 29, 2015. Ready to start the conversation around advance care planning and what you and your family members want for yourselves? Here are some terms and definitions you’ll want to know.

Common terms used in advance directives/living wills

  • Advance Directive – A document where a person makes health care decisions in the event that, in the future, they become unable to make those decisions.
  • Living Will – A written, legal health care document that ensures your end-of-life wishes are met when you are incapacitated and cannot make your own decisions. The wishes will then be carried about by your durable power of attorney and health care providers. You can accept or refuse medical care with this document.
  • Life Sustaining Treatment Consideration/LST – Life sustaining treatments are medical procedures that support and keep you alive when your body is not able to do it on its own. You may want to consider what life sustaining treatment you want in your advanced directives.
  • Do Not Resuscitate/DNR – This means that you do not want to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or other treatment to restart your heart and breathing should they stop.  Some of these treatments include chest compressions, electric stimulation, and medications.
  • Do Not Intubate/DNI – This means you do not wish to have a breathing tube and or machine to breath for you.
  • Do Not Hospitalize/DNH – This allows you to decide what setting you want your care to be provided in. When a person chooses not to be hospitalized they are deciding they do not want to be sent to a hospital from their home or other current location, such as a nursing home.
  • Artificial Nutrition and Hydration – Sometimes as an illness advances, people lose their interest in eating and drinking or are no longer able to eat and drink normally. Your advance directive can say what steps you want taken if this happens, such as a feeding tube. Keep in mind that when a person’s illness advances, and they stop eating and drinking either naturally or by choice, they may no longer have the feeling of hunger or thirst. 

Other common terms include:

  • Accelerated Death Benefit / ADB – A provision in most life insurance policies that allows a person that allows qualified people to receive a portion of their life insurance money early.
  • Assisted Living Facility / ALF – A residential living arrangement that provides care and health services for people who require assistance with bathing, dressing and taking medications. Check with your insurance company related to coverage.
  • Hospice – Patient-directed care delivered in a hospice facility, medical facility or home setting which provides medical, spiritual and emotional support for people at or near the end of life, and their families.
  • Medical Power of Attorney/Health Care Proxy – A written document in which you designate someone you trust to make health care decisions for you. This document is effective only at a time when you are unable to communicate your own care wishes.
  • Palliative Care – This is care that is used to treat pain and side effects of a disease. The care is not curative in nature but focuses on quality of life using a holistic approach.
  • Skilled Nursing Facility / SNF – A center that provides services according to a physician’s order. These skilled services may include therapies, sub-acute, nursing and long-term care.

Remember, if you have any questions on what the best care is for yourself or a loved one, talk to your doctor.