An advance directive in Oregon is a legal document that lets you choose someone to make health care decisions for you if you can’t make them yourself. It also lets you document your health care goals and wishes to make sure they are known and followed if you become unable to communicate them in the future.

Every month the Salem Health Community Health Education Center offers a free class to teach people how to complete an advance directive and talk with their loved ones about these important health choices.

Starting the conversation

“An advance directive doesn’t go into effect until you can’t speak for yourself,” said Salem Health volunteer Winnie Pitman.

That includes if a patient has Alzheimer’s, if they’re unconscious, or if they have a stroke and can’t communicate.

At the start of the class, Pitman, a former nurse, hands out the legal paperwork from the Oregon Health Authority and guides participants through it. They can fill it out in the class and ask questions along the way.

“We discuss who is the best person to choose for a health care representative: somebody close to you, somebody who will agree with you and stand up for your beliefs when you can’t speak for yourself,” said Pitman.

Asking the tough questions

Pitman said the form is an easy way to think about how to answer those tough end-of-life questions.

“Do you want the whole nine yards — get put on all the life saving and sustaining machines we have? Put on tube feeding and IVs if you can’t take in nourishment?” she said. “Do you want nothing, but to be kept comfortable and die naturally?”

Pitman also discusses how to handle a patient who is permanently unconscious. In that case, a person can also specify how long they want to live with the help of machines.

Timeline from class to medical chart

The form must be signed and witnessed by two people. Fellow classmates can serve as witnesses.

After the class, participants send the form to the hospital, where it is processed through medical records before being added to their medical chart.

It’s easy to fill out a new form and mail it in with a request to replace the previous form if a patient changes their mind.

“It’s important to have this in place because it’s what you decided when you were mentally competent,” said Pitman.

The former nurse said an advance directive is like insurance, or a will.

“It’s a gift to the family to let them know what you want,” she said. “A lot of people don’t want to discuss this up until the last minute, and I think it’s important to think it through.”

How to sign up

The advance directive class is held from 10 to 11 a.m. on the first Thursday of every month at the Community Health Education Center, in the Salem Hospital Building D Support Group Room.

Interested in learning more? Register here.