This section helps us understand your preferences for medical care and decision-making if you are ever unable to speak for yourself, whether temporarily or at the end of life. Your answers give us a starting point for conversation and help guide the preparation of your Health Care Power of Attorney and Health Care Directive, which are completed separately.
Nothing you enter here is final or binding. It’s okay to be unsure, to change your mind later, or to leave parts of this section blank.
Why we ask about health care planning
We ask these questions so we can understand how medical decisions should be handled if you cannot make them yourself. In particular, this helps us learn:
How you want decisions to be made on your behalf
How much guidance versus flexibility you want to give your decision-maker
Whether there are personal, health-related, or belief-based considerations we should account for
Your responses help ensure your health care documents reflect what matters most to you, even if your preferences are still evolving.
Health care planning — more detail
If you’d like more in-depth guidance as you work through this section, you may find the following resources helpful. These articles explore the topics in more detail and can be read now or revisited later:
How to Choose an Agent for Health Care Decisions
Guidance on selecting someone you trust to make medical decisions if you’re unable to do so, including considerations around judgment, availability, and family dynamics.Health Care and End-of-Life Care Preferences
A deeper look at common medical and end-of-life issues, designed to help you think through values, tradeoffs, and uncertainty.
These resources are optional. You do not need to read them to complete this section.
About Health Care Agents
A Health Care Agent is the person who would step in to make medical decisions if you cannot speak for yourself. In practice, this role can involve:
Communicating with doctors and care teams
Interpreting your wishes when situations are uncertain
Making decisions under time pressure or emotional stress
Because no document can predict every scenario, this role often requires judgment, confidence, and a clear understanding of your values—not just medical knowledge.
You do not need to resolve all of this here. This page simply helps identify how much guidance and authority may be appropriate for the Health Care Agent you ultimately appoint.
Health care preferences
Some questions on this page relate to:
Whether your agent may make decisions about mental health or psychiatric care
Where care should take place (home, hospital, or care facility)
How you think about serious illness, cognitive decline, or dementia
Whether personal, religious, or spiritual beliefs should guide care decisions
You are not expected to have firm answers to all of these. Indicating that a topic matters—or that you want to discuss it further—is enough.
Thinking about additional health care preferences
Some questions on this page ask about preferences related to:
Long-term care or end-of-life care location
Existing health conditions
Possible future cognitive decline or dementia
Religious, spiritual, or personal beliefs that may affect care
Many people have thoughts about these topics because of personal experience—for example, caring for a family member, supporting a friend through illness, or witnessing medical decisions firsthand. Those experiences often shape what someone wants (or does not want) for themselves.
End-of-life preferences
Questions about life-sustaining treatment and end-of-life care are included to understand your general direction, not to force definitive choices. End-of-life questions are some of the hardest in the planning process. You are not expected to have perfect answers or to resolve every scenario now. This section exists to help surface what matters to you so we can support you thoughtfully and respectfully. We’ll review these answers together and help translate them into documents that reflect your values and comfort level.
Life-sustaining treatment
You may be asked whether you would want life support continued or withdrawn if you are unlikely to survive without it, or whether you are unsure and would like to discuss options.
Some people:
Have clear views based on personal, religious, or medical experience
Prefer comfort-focused care over life-prolonging treatment
Want flexibility depending on the specific circumstances
Any of these approaches are valid. If you are uncertain, selecting an option that allows for discussion or agent discretion is completely appropriate.
Organ donation and related wishes
Questions about organ donation, donation for scientific research, or restrictions on donation help us understand whether these topics matter to you and should be addressed in your planning. Indicating interest, uncertainty, or a desire for limits simply lets us know that these issues should be handled thoughtfully and in alignment with your values.
Religious, spiritual, or personal beliefs
You may see options to indicate whether religious, spiritual, or deeply held personal beliefs should guide end-of-life care.
Many people have strong feelings in this area based on upbringing, faith, or lived experience. Checking this option does not require you to articulate those beliefs fully here—it signals that they are important and should be respected when decisions are made.
How closely your agent should follow your wishes
One question asks how strictly your Health Care Agent should follow your written preferences.
Some people want:
Their written instructions followed as closely as possible
Their preferences used as guidance, with flexibility for unforeseen situations
There is no “right” answer. This question helps us understand how much discretion you want your agent to have when circumstances are unclear or change over time.
Sharing additional thoughts
At the end of this section, you’ll have space to share any other health care or end-of-life concerns, questions, or comments.
This space is optional. You can use it to:
Explain a choice you made
Flag a concern you want to talk through
Share context based on personal or family experience
Even brief notes can be helpful.