Advance Care Planning
Extended Educational Content
The Four Elements
At the heart of advance care planning is you — your values, your relationships, and your vision for a life that reflects who you are. Built around that center are four interconnected elements:
— Peace of Mind — Before any crisis arrives, it helps to have your essential information organized and accessible: healthcare documents like your advance directive and healthcare proxy, legal documents like your will and power of attorney, financial accounts and contacts, and household details that keep daily life running. A doula helps you create and gather these in one place and make sure your loved ones know where to find them.
— Peace for My Care — This is where you consider how you wish to be cared for through illness, major transitions, or decline — not only in a final season of life, but at any point your health status changes. What does comfort look like for you? Who do you want near you, and how do you want them to show up? A doula helps you think through these preferences and put them into words others can act on.
— Peace for My Heart — Beyond logistics, this element makes space for what matters most emotionally: expressions of love and gratitude, forgiveness given or received, the wisdom you want to pass on, and how you wish to be remembered. Writing this down can be meaningful on its own, or serve as a starting point for conversations that feel hard to begin out loud.
— Peace for My Loved Ones — Advance care planning is not only for you — it is also a gift to the people who will support you. This element offers them clear guidance for what to do, how to care for themselves, and how to honor their own experience of change or loss, so they are not left guessing during an already difficult time.
Key Documents
Advance care planning is supported by several key documents. A doula does not provide legal advice, but helps you understand what each document does and ensures you have what you need.
Advance Directive — A legal document that outlines your wishes for medical treatment if you become unable to speak for yourself. Also known as a living will. Specifies which treatments you do or do not want.
Healthcare Proxy / Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare — Names a trusted person — your healthcare agent — to make medical decisions on your behalf if you cannot. The most important advance care planning document you can complete.
POLST / MOLST — Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (or Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment). A medical order — signed by a physician — that travels with you and translates your wishes into actionable instructions for emergency responders and care providers.
Values History — A narrative document, not a legal one, that captures what quality of life means to you, what brings you joy and meaning, and how you want to be cared for. Helps healthcare providers and family members understand the person behind the paperwork.
Healthcare Navigation & Advocacy
One of the most important things a doula does in advance care planning is help you navigate the healthcare system — a system that can feel overwhelming, fragmented, and difficult to move through alone. A doula helps you prepare questions before appointments, understand the information and options presented to you, and communicate your wishes clearly to providers. They can accompany you to medical appointments, help you process what you learned, and ensure that your care plan reflects what actually matters to you — not just what the system defaults to.
Self-advocacy is a skill, and most people have never been taught it. A doula helps you develop it — so that when the moment comes, your voice is heard clearly, even in high-pressure situations.
Who This Service Is For
Advance care planning is for every adult — not only those facing illness or end of life. It is for the young adult who wants to have a plan before one is needed. For the person navigating a new or serious diagnosis who wants to get ahead of decisions. For the adult child helping an aging parent put wishes into words. For the caregiver who wants to make sure they know what to do. And for anyone who understands that the most loving thing they can do for the people they care about is to make their wishes known.
Key Concepts
Advance Directive — A legal document outlining medical treatment wishes when a person cannot speak for themselves.
Healthcare Proxy — A named person authorized to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.
POLST/MOLST — A physician-signed medical order translating your wishes into actionable instructions for care providers.
Values History — A narrative document capturing what quality of life, comfort, and meaningful care look like for you.
Healthcare Advocacy — The practice of clearly communicating your needs and wishes within the medical system — and having someone in your corner to help.
