Claire Lippert is as prepared for death as she can be.

A health care proxy details who can make medical decisions for her if she becomes incapacitated.

A living will makes her wishes known about such life-sustaining treatments as ventilators and feeding tubes in case she is unable to speak for herself.

A "do not resuscitate" order to discourage an attempt to revive her if her heart or breathing stops is stuck to her refrigerator door.

Recently, a MOLST form lay on her kitchen table. In greater detail, the Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment translates Lippert's preferences into physician orders that will transfer with her to all health-care settings.

"I'm planning to go to sleep one night and not wake up, but I know it doesn't always happen that way," she said. "What I don't want is to be hooked up to machines."

What constitutes a good death? Nearly 90 percent of people would prefer to die in their homes, free of pain and surrounded by family and loved ones, according to a poll cited by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

Studies suggest the same thing. Researchers this month, for instance, in the Archives of Internal Medicine reported on a multicenter examination of hundreds of advanced cancer patients.

They concluded that patients who avoid hospitalizations and the intensive-care unit; who are less worried; who pray or meditate; and who feel they have a shared treatment goal with their physician experienced a higher quality of life in their final days than people who died in a hospital or received aggressive, life-prolonging measures.

More individuals like Lippert are turning to advance directives to make sure their wishes are respected, especially regarding often futile aggressive measures to keep them alive.

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Getting a final health care plan down on paper