The following is an excerpt from Next Steps.  It is provided as a sample of what is included in the “Answers to Questions about Five Wishes” section.   More information is included in the booklet.

Answers to Questions about Five Wishes

Why should I fill out Five Wishes?
Without an advance directive like Five Wishes, you may have no control over important medical care decisions that will be made if you ever get seriously ill – such as whether to give you life-support treatment or aggressively treat your pain.  You may think your wishes are similar to those of other people and that your loved ones and doctors will automatically know what you want when you are very ill.  That’s not true.  In reality, everyone has different wishes and yours won’t be followed unless you make them clear.   For example, your dying process could be artificially prolonged even though you may have wanted a natural death.  Not expressing your wishes can put your family, friends and doctor in the difficult position of guessing what kind of treatment you want, which would lead to disagreements.  Completing Five Wishes gives you control over your care and peace of mind for you and your loved ones.

Which is better to have: a living will or a health care agent?
The health care agent and the living will go hand-in-hand, and you are usually better off with both.  You need to have a health care agent there to speak for you when you can’t speak for yourself, and you need a living will that expresses in writing your wishes.  When you are sick, your medical conditions can be very complicated and can change suddenly.  The law generally requires your agent to make decisions that he or she feels you would have made if you could talk.  The more information your agent has, the better.

If I am seriously ill, what can I do to make sure that I won’t be in pain?
Most people who are very sick want to be kept comfortable and alert, and surrounded by friends.  Great progress has been made in our health care system to treat illnesses, but unfortunately there can be more attention paid to your treatment than your comfort.  So make it very clear to your doctor, health care agent and family that you don’t want to be in pain.

Remember that the above is only an excerpt from Next Steps.  Much more information is contained in the document.