Advance Care Directives concerning general medical care are recognized throughout all the states (for example, see the American Bar Associations list Links to State-Specific Advance Directive Forms). More recently, advance care directives specifically aimed at dementia have begun to appear. The point of advance directives is to have a plan in place and to have discussed your wishes with family, potential caregivers, and your doctors — while you are still capable.

A fairly simple straight-forward dementia-oriented directive has been developed by a Washington state internist, and is available as a pdf download at Health Directive for Dementia. The directive was documented by an essay in the JAMA at Advance Directives for Dementia – Meeting a Unique Challenge. Both of these links are available at ADVANCE DIRECTIVE FOR DEMENTIA. A media article about this work appeared at One Day Your Mind May Fade. At Least You’ll Have a Plan.

A more extensive dementia-oriented directive, with detailed directions, can be found at Alzheimers Disease and Dementia Advance Directive , with a general introduction at Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Mental Health Advance Directive. This directive apparently has legal weight in Washington state. It is not clear whether Advance Directives for Dementia have yet gained legal weight in other states.

Whatever the legal status of these Advance Directives for Dementia, it is important for anyone at any risk for dementia to engage in discussions of advance care with family, friends, and doctors, and to make their wishes known while they are able.

All the links above have been added to the top of Alzheimer’s > Coping & Caregivers and to the top of Alzheimer’s > General & Resources