Dear Editor,

“The Five Wishes: what is it and why do it?”  is an advance directive created by the non-profit organization Aging with Dignity with the assistance of doctors, nurses, lawyers and others to help people of all ages get the kind of treatment they want if they become seriously ill. 

It’s unique among other living will and health agent forms because it addresses all of a person’s needs in one document. It combines a living will and health care power of attorney, in addition to addressing matters of comfort, care and spirituality. It also helps to make a difficult conversation easier, since it structures discussions. 

It has been a legal document in most states since 1988. The best time to fill out Five Wishes is before you face a health crisis. Anyone over the age of 18 can use it. It’s to your disadvantage to assume that your loved ones will automatically know what you want when you become ill. In reality, even after discussions people may change their minds, or conversations are heard and perceived differently. So, it’s important to make them clearly known by documenting them in a formal way. What are the Five Wishes:

Wish 1: The person I want to make care decisions for me when I can’t. 

Wish 2: The kind of medical treatment I want or don’t want.

Wish 3: How comfortable I want to be.

Wish 4: How I want people to treat me.

Wish 5: What I want my loved ones to know.

To obtain the Five Wishes directive, go to https://fivewishes.org/

Atashnaa Medicineshield Werner
Nederland 

(Originally published in the May 14, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)