American Bar Association & its Commission on Law & Aging:

• 10 Legal Myths About Advance Medical Directives, by Charles P. Sabatino, J.D., for the ABA's Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly.
• Health Care Advance Directives, posted by the ABA's Division for Public Education:
  • What is a health care advance directive?
  • How do you plan a health care advance directive?
  • Is a health care advance directive the same as a living will?
  • Why can't I just tell my doctor what I want?
  • Will doctors and hospitals recognize my advance directive?
    
  • What is the Patient Self-Determination Act?
  • How do you write an advance directive?
  • What kinds of decisions does a health-care agent make?
  • How do you select a health-care agent?
  • Are there any formalities of signing an advance directive?
    
  • Can you change or terminate your advance directive?
  • Where should you keep the directive?
  • When should you review your advance directive?
  • Is an advance directive still good when you cross state lines?

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• Key Points about Advance Planning -- Discusses the main ideas behind advance planning and what it can mean for you and your family (PDF format).
• Shape Your Health Care Future with Health Care Advance Directives -- Booklet designed to help you learn more about health care advance directives, including a general form & instructions.
  • Booklet in Word format
    
  • Booklet in Adobe PDF format
• Living Wills, Health Care Proxies, and Advance Health Care Directives
  • Topics: Introduction; Living Wills; Health Care Proxy; Why Have Health Directives?; Obtaining and Maintaining Living Wills and Health Care Proxies; Organ & Tissue Donation; & Communication is the Key.
• When You Can't When You Can’t Make the Decision: Confronting Your Biggest Fear Now Can Make a Big Difference Later -- Part Seven (2 chapters) excerpted & made available online from the ABA Guide to Wills & Estates (2nd ed.) that deal with advance directives & living wills (PDF format, 24 pages).
• Health and Financial Decisions: Legal Tools for Preserving Your Personal Autonomy
  
  • Brochure in English (PDF format, 12 pages, 2004).
  • Health and Financial Decisions (En Español)
• Consumer’s Tool Kit for Health Care Advance Planning -- Contains a variety of self-help worksheets, suggestions, and resources to help discover, clarify and communicate what is important to you in the face of serious illness.
  • Introduction: "[Y]ou should be aware that just having a written advance directive by itself does not ensure that your wishes will be understood and respected. Studies have shown that standard advance directive forms do little to influence end-of-life decisions without: 1) informed, thoughtful reflection about your wishes and values, and 2) personal communication between you and your likely decision-makers before a crisis occurs."
  • There Are 10 "Tools" in This Tool Kit:
    • Tool #1 -- How to Select Your Health Care Agent or Proxy
    • Tool #2 -- Are Some Conditions Worse than Death?
    • Tool #3 -- How Do You Weight Odds of Survival?
    • Tool #4 -- Personal Priorities & Spiritual Values Important to Your Medical Decisions
    • Tool #5 -- After Death Decisions to Think About Now
    • Tool #6 -- Conversation Scripts: Getting Past the Resistance
    • Tool #7 -- The Proxy Quiz for Family & Physician
    • Tool #8 -- What to Do After Signing Your Health Care Advance Directive
    • Tool #9 -- Guide for Health Care Proxies
    • Tool #10 -- Resources on Advance Planning for Health Care
• Facts About Law and the Elderly -- Information about elder abuse, health care planning, grandparents' rights, and more (PDF format).
• Rights of Older Americans -- A chapter from ABA's Family Legal Guide.
• Law and Aging Resource Guide -- Find legal help in various states.
• Understanding Health Plan Dispute Resolution Practices