If you are appointed to be someone’s “guardian” or you choose to be a “guardian” there is a lot to know and understand.
First what is guardianship? Guardianship is a legal process, utilized when a person no longer has capacity to make or communicate safe or sound decisions about his/her person and/or property or has become susceptible to fraud or undue influence. According to South Dakota Codified law 29A-5A-102 a guardian is a person appointed by the court to make decisions regarding the person of an adult. A guardian has authority over personal and healthcare decisions while a conservator has authority over the protected person’s property and others.
Guardians are asked to be responsible for many things when they are appointed. Included in these requirements is the responsibility to advocate for the protected person’s healthcare. For some, this can be a difficult task, especially if one is asked to make life-sustaining treatment decisions. While there is some training for new guardians, it does not necessarily focus on the information needed to help guardians make medical decisions. Recognizing this difficulty, LifeCircle of SD has developed training videos, worksheets, and educational resources for guardians specific to making healthcare decisions for a protected person.
The video series titled The Role of the Guardian features 5 short videos focusing on:
- Informed Decisions
- Responsibilities
- Advance Directives Part 1
- Advance Directives Part 2
- Life Sustaining Treatment
In addition to the videos, visitors to SDAHO’s Guardianship webpage can also access worksheets to help with the education process.
To learn more and access SDAHO’s Guardianship Educational tools, visit our webpage at sdaho.org/guardianship.
