Advance directive	Written or verbal documentation in which a person indicates health care preferences while he or she is cognitively and physically able to make decisions.
	Each state has different regulations for the use of advance directives.
Combination document	An advanced directive that combines elements of a living will and durable power of attorney for health care into one document.
Do-not-resuscitate order	An order that prohibits the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the event of cardiac arrest.
	Advanced directives do not need to include a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order, and the patient does not need an advanced directive to have a DNR order.
	In some states, the DNR order also may be used in outpatient settings.
Durable power of attorney for health care	A written advance directive that assigns one person as a decision-making proxy should the user become incapacitated.
	The goal is for the designated decision maker to act as the patient’s agent in carrying out his or her health care choices in a situation of severe medical impairment.
Living will	A written advance directive in which a competent person indicates health care preferences while cognitively and physically intact.
	A living will may specify instructions for care (e.g., feeding tubes, mechanical ventilation, surgery) in life-prolonging situations.
	Living wills take effect when the patient becomes physically or mentally unable to make his or her own decisions and is terminally ill or irreversibly comatose.
Medical directive	A detailed written directive that describes in questionnaire format what type of treatment a person would or would not want in various medical situations.
	A medical directive can be generic or disease-specific, but it is most useful when it contains specifics that apply to the patient’s actual circumstance. Situations often arise that were not anticipated or addressed in the directive.
	A medical directive cannot document value-based decisions.
Values history	A written directive that offers a series of questions about values related to health care that are to be answered in an open-ended narrative format.
	A history identifies explicit values and articulates health care preferences based on these values.
	A history directly addresses patient values by asking questions related to quality of life. It has a section for specific medical care preferences and health care proxy indication. The structure facilitates discussion among the family physician, family, and patient to reflect and review end-of-life planning. The history requires greater introspection by the patient into his or her own values.