By Mark Harvey

Yes, I know it’s April Fool’s Day. And yes, I’m going to ignore it because I’m still mad about having to change the clocks back on March 12, when we were all played for fools.

OK, you’re right: I really need to let that go. Let’s move on.

Those of us who have been mucking about in these columns for years are probably aware of things like “advance directives” and “durable powers of attorney,” but the fact is that, exactly as we predicted, a whole bunch more of us are aging into elderhood. So, things a lot of us knew are complete news to the newbies.

To further complicate the already complicated, new terms are sometimes applied to these things we already knew, so we begin to wonder if we actually really know what we think we know.

You get it; so, for all of us, let’s begin again.

You may be encountering the phrase “advance care planning.” What it seems to mean is making (and documenting) decisions about health care that you would (or wouldn’t) want to receive if you couldn’t speak for yourself. And some of us think to ourselves: “Isn’t that what an advance directive does?” Yes, it is.

You might also hear about a “durable power of attorney for health care,” which seems to allow another person to make health care decisions for us if we can’t do it on our own. Again, we might think: “I thought I already did that.” It’s very likely you did.

So, what’s “advance care planning”? It’s just a term for the wider process of thinking about what we do or don’t want, doing some homework (like finding out what, exactly, is hospice), having the necessary conversations with family and/or significant others, and doing the dirty work of producing documents.

Time to back up? Fair enough:

An advance directive is a statement to health care professionals about the kinds of treatments or interventions you do or don’t want, if you can’t speak for yourself.

The durable power of attorney for health care allows you to designate someone to make health care decisions for you, if you can’t make your own. It may be a stand-alone document or part of a wider durable power of attorney, which allows someone to make decisions you can’t make for yourself. (The latter is my personal preference.) We’ll stick to the advance care planning piece for now.

A “physician orders for life-sustaining treatment” form is not, technically, considered part of advance care planning, but it might feel like splitting hairs. A POLST is designed for folks with serious illnesses, conditions or frailty, such that they could go down anytime. It allows emergency responders to respect expressed wishes about what that person does or does not want, without incurring legal penalties on themselves. Most of us don’t need one of these, most of the time.

Finally, you might encounter the phrase “written personal statement.” That’s just what it sounds like: It’s you talking to family, or surrogate decision-makers, or health care pros, or whomever, about what’s important to you. This will help them make the “right” decisions on your behalf, if they ever need to. Is it a good idea? Sure. Is it mandatory? No.

You might occasionally remind your family that this stuff exists, and where to find the papers. If you’ve documented everything, and it still reflects your current wishes, there’s really nothing more you need to do.

But if you’re just starting to think about this stuff, here’s something you need to know: Effective this year, in Washington state, these documents need to be notarized when they are created. Those of us with documents from years ago will be grandfathered in.

I know what some of you are thinking, and the answer is: No, you do not have to do this stuff. It is not some kind of legal requirement. You can just skip the whole thing and hope nothing bad ever happens, or be prepared to experience whatever the law says you should get in a time of crisis. Good luck with that.

Last thing: The Olympic Area Agency on Aging’s Advisory Council has devised a survey on advance care planning that might help you think about this stuff a little bit, and it will help them to design some programs to help folks navigate this stuff. It’s anonymous and will take 10 to 15 minutes. Go to www.o3a.org and scroll down to “Health Care Decision Making Survey.”

Make sense, mostly? Look, this doesn’t have to be a depressing exercise in morbidity. You’re trying to take care of yourself and the people who love you, so just do it — in whatever way is right for you — and get back to your life, with one less thing to worry about.

Mark Harvey is the director of information and assistance for the Olympic Area Agency on Aging. He can be reached by email at harvemb@dshs.wa.gov; by phone at 360-532-0520 in Aberdeen, 360-942-2177 in Raymond, or 360-642-3634; or through Facebook at Olympic Area Agency on Aging-Information & Assistance.