Middle Ground Alternatives

Living Wills

A living will is a legal, document that communicates the health care wishes of someone who may no longer to able to make and communicate his or her own health care decisions.

A living will may spell out types of medical treatments and life-sustaining measures a person wants or doesn’t want, such as mechanical breathing (respiration and ventilation), tube feeding, and resuscitation. Or it may specify how much power a person gives his or her health care proxy when making major health care decisions.

A living will is sometimes called a health care declaration or health care directive.

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