What is the primary purpose of advance directives?

The primary purpose of advance directives is to allow individuals to state their medical treatment preferences. Advance directives are legal documents that express a person's wishes regarding medical care in situations where they may be unable to communicate those wishes themselves due to illness or incapacity. This can include decisions about life-sustaining treatments, resuscitation efforts, and other healthcare decisions that align with the individual’s values and desires.

By having an advance directive, individuals can ensure that their medical treatment aligns with their personal beliefs and preferences, providing guidance to healthcare providers and loved ones in making decisions on their behalf. This becomes particularly critical in emergencies when timely decisions must be made, and the individual may not be able to convey their wishes.

Other choices, while they touch on important topics, do not accurately reflect the foundational purpose of advance directives. Specifying funeral arrangements, ensuring financial decisions, or providing legal representation involve different aspects of personal planning that do not directly address healthcare decisions as advance directives do.