Perhaps one of the most difficult conversations you’ll have as a caregiver is talking about end of life preparations. For many seniors, this conversation is as hard as the one about having to move to a full-time care facility.

But because, a senior’s health can fail suddenly and unexpected, it is vitally important that legal, medical and other formal arrangements be made while the senior still has the capacity to make these decisions.

So what are some of the documents you should make sure the person you care for has? Here’s a starting point:

• An Advance Directive, which is a legal document that spells out his/her wishes regarding future medical care and treatment. Through this, your senior appoints someone to make medical decisions in the event that he/she can not do so for him/herself.
• A Living Will to document the senior’s wishes about whether or not he/she wants medical treatment to prolong her life if death is inevitable anyway.
• A Durable Health Care Power of Attorney, ranging across all levels of healthcare, to appoint someone to make medical decisions on behalf of the senior should he/she become incompetent.

For more Advanced Directives and End of Life Preparation

Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care 408-370-6360.