Skip to Content
Back to Healthy Living Tips

Make a Plan During National Healthcare Decisions Month


It always seems too early, until it’s too late.

Health care planning is not about one document or one conversation, but a life process to promote everyday wellness, plan for the future, and get the best possible person-centered care all through your life.

Step 1: Explore. Consider information to make care choices.

  • Learn your legal rights
  • Learn about life-sustaining treatment options
  • Consider your beliefs

Step 2: Plan. Make your choices clear through MA approved planning documents.

Everyone should have 3 basic documents:

  • Health Care Proxy - Who will make health care decisions for you when you cannot?
  • Personal Directive or Living Will - What kind of life sustaining treatments do you want?
  • Durable Power of Attorney - Who will handle your finances if you are unable?

Additional documents may be appropriate depending on your situation:

  • Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST)
  • Comfort Care/Do Not Resuscitate Order (CC/DNR)

Step 3: Connect. Put your plan into action for the quality care that honors your choices.

Make sure you discuss your health goals and share your future planning documents with your family, as well as your doctors and care providers, so they can support a plan that:

  • Promotes your everyday health;
  • Plans for future care, and;
  • Honors your choices all through your life.

For more detail and links to planning documents, go to: www.honoringchoicesmass.com

Additional resources:
Read: Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, by Atul Gawande
See: www.theconversationproject.org for help talking about your wishes for end-of-life care

“You may not control life’s circumstances, but getting to be the author of your life
means getting to control what you do with them.” Atul Gawande, Being Mortal