About PADs
- A psychiatric advance directive (PAD) is a legal document that documents a person’s preferences for future mental health treatment, and allows appointment of a health proxy to interpret those preferences during a crisis.
- PADs may be drafted when a person is well enough to consider preferences for future mental health treatment.
- PADs are used when a person becomes unable to make decisions during a mental health crisis.
“Pennsylvanians Can Now Prepare Advance Mental Health Directives”
Joe Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 8, 2005