National Healthcare Decision Day – April 16
Advance care planning addresses the health care you would want to receive in a medical crisis – based on your values, preferences, and conversations with your loved ones.
While there’s much we can’t control, we can make informed decisions to give the people closest to us the power to confidently make health care decisions for us in the event that becomes necessary.
All adults should make time for these conversations, but they’re especially important for those who are over 60 years old and are living with chronic health conditions such as heart, lung or kidney disease or cancer.
National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) exists to inspire, educate and empower everyone about the importance of advance care planning. NHDD is an initiative to encourage patients to express their wishes regarding healthcare and for providers and facilities to respect those wishes, whatever they may be.
Being in charge of your health care decisions is beneficial in several ways. Not only does it bring us a sense of peace but also gives direction to our loved ones and caregivers. The health care decisions that have been expressed by an individual and written down officially will serve as the instruction for future events and take off the onus of decision-making from the family and loved ones. They are not left guessing what you might have wanted and can rest assured that they have fulfilled your desires by following the instructions that you have provided through the complete advanced directive. These decisions that you make today will ensure you and your family a better tomorrow.
NHDD brings together various healthcare organizations and providers, communities, and religious institutions to work together by allowing them to independently work for the benefit of families and patients.
For more information visit https://www.fivewishes.org/national-healthcare-decisions-day/
Interesting Facts On National Healthcare Decisions Day:
Few Facts Related To National Healthcare Decisions Day
- Nathan Kottkamp the founder of NHDD is part of the law firm, McguireWoodsLLP
- The Conversation Project is the managing body for the NHHD events and regulates its finances and structure, as of June 2016.
- Five wishes are one of the most popular Advance Directive which encompasses personal, emotional, and spiritual concerns in addition to healthcare decisions
- According to the conversation Project national Survey conducted in 2018, it is estimated that only 32% of the Americans have discussed their end-of-life care wishes even when 92% of the Americans agree that it is an important factor to discuss.