What are the two common directives under the Patient Self-Determination Act?

• A. Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney
• B. Informed Consent and Revocation
• C. Power of Enforcement and Guardianship
• D. Medical Directives and Consent

Answer: (A)

The question tests understanding of what the Patient Self-Determination Act emphasizes in advance care planning. The Act requires health care facilities to provide patients with information about advance directives and to document whether patients have such directives. The two most common directives under this act are a living will, which outlines a patient’s preferences for treatment at the end of life or when they cannot communicate, and a durable power of attorney for health care (also called a healthcare proxy), which designates someone trusted to make medical decisions on the patient’s behalf if they lack decision-making capacity. This combination covers both explicit treatment preferences and a designated decision-maker to interpret and apply those wishes when needed. Informed consent and revocation refer to the consent process for specific procedures and ending consent, not to the advance directives themselves. Guardianship is a separate legal arrangement for decision-making and is not the standard patient directive addressed by the PSDA.