Are you an adult who would like to make instructions ahead of time about what kind of health care you want to receive if you lose the ability to make decisions?
If you answered yes, a health care directive can give you peace of mind. A health care directive is a document you use to give instructions about health care decisions that someone may have to make for you if you lose capacity. It can include guidance about the kind of medical procedures or general care you would like in certain situations, and those treatments or care you would refuse.
A health care directive can include any instructions related to your health care. Many people give guidance around the type of health care they would like to receive near the end of their life. The instructions can be general or specific, and can include:
• general instructions about what someone should consider when making a health care decision on your behalf, and/or
• specific instructions about whether you would or wouldn’t want a particular procedure or treatment.
If you provide instructions about a specific procedure or treatment, it’s wise to describe the situations in which you would or wouldn’t want it. Without this, the person making a decision on your behalf may not know whether you wanted the specific instructions to be followed in the situation you are facing.
You can make a health care directive if you have the capacity to make decisions about your care.
What is capacity?
Capacity is the ability to make decisions. It has two parts:
• the ability to understand the information that is relevant to the decisions, and
• the ability to appreciate the possible impact of the decisions.
Capacity isn’t “all or nothing.” Someone can have the capacity to make some kinds of decisions and not others. For example, someone could have the capacity to make decisions about their health care but not about their finances. Capacity can also change over time; someone can lose the capacity to make a certain kind of decision and then regain that capacity at a later point.
How do I make a health care directive?
Health care directives are easy to make and simple to redo if you want to change your instructions.
You can make a health care directive using a form, found here, from the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick. You are not required to use this form. However, if you use a form from another source, it may not follow New Brunswick’s legislation.
You do not need support from a lawyer to make a health care directive. However, if you have one helping you with your enduring power of attorney for personal care, you could ask them for advice about your health care directive. An attorney for personal care is someone who acts on your behalf when it comes to your health care and other personal care.
It’s a good idea to speak with your doctor (if you have one) before making your health care directive. They may be able to help you understand some of the considerations that can help you decide what instructions to include in the document. For example, they may be able to provide information about the procedures and treatments that may be suggested if you are injured or ill and unable to make your own decisions.
When you have completed your health care directive, it’s wise to keep the original in a safe place. Also, keep a copy of it somewhere that it’s easy to find, such as on your refrigerator or bedside table, so that someone can get it in an emergency. Take a copy with you if you go to the hospital or when you are travelling.
You should also give a copy of your health care directive to:
• your attorney for personal care (if you have one),
• any other family member or friend who is likely to deal with health care providers on your behalf, and
• your doctor (if you have one.)
It’s important to discuss your health care directive with your attorney for personal care (if you have one), as well as your family or friends. This can help them understand your instructions and enable them to make the decisions you want when the time comes.
Disclaimer
Please note that this information is not meant as a complete statement about the law around health care directives, as legislation changes from time to time.
For a more fulsome explanation of this area of the law, you could reach out to the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick or contact a lawyer. To find a lawyer in your area, call the Law Society of New Brunswick at (506) 458-8540.
You can make a health care directive using a form, found here.