What is an advanced directive?
An advanced directive is a set of instructions that explains the medical care and treatment an individual does or does not want to receive, should they lose the ability to self-advocate. Advanced directives include documenting your chosen health care representative(s); writing a living will; identifying the values, people, activities, and items most important to you; and communicating funeral and burial wishes.
Who needs an advanced directive?
Everyone can benefit from creating advanced directives! Advanced directives are especially important for people with disabilities or chronic illnesses, as the medical community does not always take their wishes seriously, nor respect the value of their lives.
Because many adults lack advanced directives, some recover from a serious medical event only to find themselves under a guardianship order with limited means to restore their rights and independence. When faced with end-of-life decisions, a stranger may be the one deciding the value of their life and the manner in which they die.
Additionally, medical providers often question the ability of some people with disabilities to make important health care decisions. This phenomenon is particularly prevalent for patients with intellectual disabilities. Advanced directives can demonstrate to medical providers that patients with disabilities understand important and sometimes complex medical information and have thought about how their preferences influence care and treatment decisions.
Why are advanced directives important?
- They allow people to make decisions about what happens to their body.
- Health care planning is often overlooked, especially for people with disabilities.
- They can communicate when patients cannot, potentially eliminating the need for medical providers to require an order of guardianship before accepting a third party's decision (not) to pursue treatment.
Learn more
The documents below are intended to help Hoosiers with disabilities think more about the variety of options made possible through advanced directives. They are free to download. The Planning Sheet and Health Care Representative Form can be filled in on a computer and printed or printed and filled in by hand.
| Advanced Directive Toolkit | English | English, Large Print | Spanish | Spanish, Large Print | American Sign Language (ASL) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Directive - Frequently Asked Questions (view as a webpage) | English | English LP | Spanish | Spanish LP | ASL video playlist |
| Advanced Directive - Planning Sheet (view as a webpage) | English | English LP | Spanish | Spanish LP | ASL video playlist |
| Advanced Directive - Indiana Health Care Representative (view as a webpage) | English | English LP | Spanish | Spanish LP |
If you are a person with a disability who has completed the Planning Sheet and would like assistance developing an advanced directive, please contact IDR for assistance. Fill out our Help Form or call our Intake Team at 1-800-622-4845.
Attorney resources
If you are an attorney interested in supporting a client with a disability create advanced directives, email Staff Attorney Tash Crespo for additional resources and advice.
Thank you
With the generous support of the Indy Bar Foundation and the Indianapolis Bar Association, through the the 2022 Community Empowerment Fund Grant, IDR created this Advanced Directive Toolkit for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD). It offers accessibly formatted, plain language information, as well as legal templates with step-by-step guidance. Following the Toolkit's development, IDR offered workshops throughout central Indiana to help individuals with I/DD execute advanced directives and get them notarized.
Following the grant's term, IDR has expanded its health care practice, using the Toolkit to educate and serve all interested Hoosiers with disabilities, regardless of their particular diagnoses.