1. Learn about the different types of personal care decisions
Question & Answer
Do I need a Power of Attorney for Personal Care?A gives your attorney the power to:
- decisions about your personal care, such as where you live, what you eat, getting dressed, washing and having a bath, and staying safe
- make decisions about your health care that deal with:
- health-care treatments, such as agreeing or refusing treatments by regulated health care professionals, which includes doctors, nurses, dentists, and physiotherapists
- moving into a long-term care home
- getting personal care services in a long-term care home, such as bathing and help with meals
A Power of Attorney for Personal Care takes effect only if you're mentally incapable of making decisions for yourself.
Being mentally incapable means that you cannot understand:
- the information needed to make a decision, or
- what could happen because of decisions you make about treatment or personal care.
Your attorney can only make decisions for you that you're not capable of making yourself.
You may be capable of making some personal care decisions and not others. For example, you might be able to take care of your bathing and getting dressed, but not able to make decisions about where you live.
