Getting Your House in Order (Make Your Healthcare Wishes Known)
May 16, 2022 by agutting@reviewjournal.com
Filed under Health
Getting Your House in Order (Make Your Healthcare Wishes Known)
By Cassandra Cotton, Nathan Adelson Hospice Community Outreach Manager
Did you know?
• 90% of people say that talking with their loved ones about their healthcare wishes is important.
• 27% have actually done so.
• 82% of people say it’s important to put their wishes in writing.
• 23% have actually done it.
Advance care planning is a process of thinking about and sharing your wishes for future health care. Advance directives are legal documents that communicate a person’s wishes about health care decisions in the event the person becomes incapable of making them.
April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) — which exists to inspire, educate, and empower the public and providers about the importance of advance care planning.
Since 2008, independent organizations have used April 16 for a collective national effort focused on advance care planning. NHDD was founded as a moment to provide clear, concise, and consistent information on healthcare decision-making to both the public and providers/facilities.
National Healthcare Decisions Day encourages citizens to have conversations about their healthcare decisions.
“Deciding Tomorrow Today” is a program developed by Nathan Adelson Hospice to help facilitate important conversations about end-of-life values and priorities among individuals, family members, friends and healthcare providers. Working in hospice, we know how important those conversations and written instructions are.
It’s often better to discuss your wishes and goals now — prior to becoming ill — to avoid surprises when your loved ones hear of your desires. It is important to advise your family and friends of your choice even if they are not going to be your designated decision maker.
IMPORTANT TOPICS TO COVER
• What kind of treatments do I want or not want?
• Where do I want my care to be given (home, nursing home, hospital, hospice facility)?
• What is most important to me in my final stage of life?
Once you have completed your written advance directive, you may keep a copy in the “Nevada Living Will Lockbox” with the Nevada Secretary of State. (www.nvsos.gov)
“The Living Will Lockbox” allows families and healthcare providers to avoid struggling with difficult healthcare decisions in the absence of guidance from the patient.
Advance directives are useless if they are not available when it is time for that treatment or care to be provided. Whenever necessary, authorized healthcare providers can easily access these documents quickly — resulting in better care for patients and clear direction for healthcare providers.
The Living Will Lockbox is about providing Nevadans with the assurance that their wishes regarding the course of their medical treatment will be made available.
Since its inception on March 25, 2008, more than 6,500 registrants, 50 hospitals and medical groups, and 50 law firms throughout Nevada use the Living Will Lockbox. The program is operated at no charge to the taxpayers of Nevada through grants and sponsorships.
For more information about “Deciding Tomorrow Today and the Living Will Lock Box, please visit our web @ www.nah.org or call Nathan Adelson Hospice’s main number at (702) 733.0320.