AARP working to make it easier to own your own health

AARP North Carolina is working to make it easier for residents to get advance directives in place on how they want to be cared for during a serious illness. “Advance care planning empowers individuals to make their own important health care decisions while they are still able, bringing peace of mind to individuals and their families,” says Virginia Slocum, executive director of the North Carolina Serious Illness Coalition.

Making it easier to file advance directives was a recommendation of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine’s Task Force on Serious Illness Care, which AARP participated in.

This year, North Carolina lawmakers are expected to simplify the process even more SB147 will modernize the requirements for advance directives by doing two main things:

1) changing the requirement from 2 witnesses AND a notary to 2 witnesses OR a notary, and

2) it will authorize the Secretary of State to receive electronic filings of Advance Health Care Directives.

Slocum added, “Advance care planning is about helping ensure that your wishes and choices are consistent with the treatment you receive if you were unable to speak for yourself.

For many people, discussions about advance care planning can be very overwhelming: What does it mean? What is involved? How complicated is the process? Is this relevant for me?”

To learn how advance directives can help you own your own health, you can find how to resources and videos on this website.

To help AARP advocate for improvements to help older adults as they age, sign up for AARP Action Alerts.