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Educating About Medical Decisions

Sometimes heart failure patients may lose the ability to communicate because of the severity of their illness. This can lead to many serious dilemmas if the patient has not previously communicated their treatment wishes.

Heart failure patients should consider the following[18]:

Advanced Directives

• Used to inform health care professionals about treatments that the patient does not want to undergo

Power of Attorney for Personal Care

• Someone designated to make medical decisions for them

Living will

• A document describing the allocation of possessions/finances/property/etc.

   

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18. The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee, Powers of Attorney and "Living Wills" Some Questions and Answers. Province of Ontario accessed October 6, 2008 www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/family/pgt/livingwillqa.pdf

All references for this section