Establishing Your Advance Directive

MedicAlert® is an important service to provide access to your Advance Directive both within New Zealand and internationally.

Before we can do this, you need to decide what your Advance Directives will be. This requires serious consideration on your part and must be completed while you are believed to be competent to do so.

The integrity of your directives is very important. Emergency Services and Clinicians need to know your directives are current, valid and can be trusted to be followed.

Using an Advance Directive Form provided by a recommended organisation will give you a good head start.

You don't need a lawyer to make an advance directive, However, MedicAlert® strongly recommends you consult your doctor directly when establishing your directives and have the doctor verify your competence.

A Valid Advance Directive

To be valid, an advance directive depends on:

  • competence - whether the person was competent to make the directive when they made it; and
  • freedom from undue influence - whether the person who made the directive was free from undue influence; and
  • sufficient information - whether the person had sufficient information to make the particular directive they made; and
  • application to current circumstances - whether the person intended their directive to apply to the present circumstances.
  • If an advance directive meets all these criteria, it is valid, even if clinicians or family disagree with the choices it makes.

When you renew your Membership each year you can verify that your directive is still current and valid or forward an updated Advance Directive.

For further information we recommend you visit both of the two following websites:

1. The Health and Disability Commissioner

An advance directive is a statement signed by a person setting out in advance the treatment wanted or not wanted in the event of becoming unwell in the future.

Advance Directives & Enduring Powers of Attorney

2. Medical Association of New Zealand

Click on the lick below to access an Advance Directive download document called "information about Advanced Directives"

http://www.nzma.org.nz/patients-guide/advance-directive