Due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), parents of children over the age of 18 no longer have access to their child's medical information. An Advance Medical Directive is a legal document executed while an individual has the mental capacity to make decisions about their own medical care. The documents provide a detailed account of the individual's preferences regarding healthcare treatment in the event that they would lose the ability to make and express medical choices autonomously.

A Living Will and a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare are two common types of Advance Directives.

A Living Will provides instructions to physicians and family members regarding the individual's desires for treatment. This is most often used to determine whether or not an individual wishes to be on life support or resuscitated.

A Durable Power of Attorney specifies who the student would like to make healthcare decisions for them in the event that they are unable to make decisions on their own.

More information and assistance regarding these documents can be found on the Purdue Student Legal Services web page here.