National Healthcare Decisions Day Set for April 16
Burt Blee, along with other national, state and community organizations, are leading a massive effort to highlight the importance of advance healthcare decision-making—an effort that has culminated in the formal designation of April 16 as National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD). As a participating organization, Burt Blee is sharing information and tools for the public to talk about their wishes with family, friends, and healthcare providers. These resources are available courtesy of National Healthcare Decisions Day at https://theconversationproject.org/nhdd/.
As a result of National Healthcare Decisions Day, many more people in our community can be expected to have thoughtful conversations about their healthcare decisions and complete reliable advance directives to make their wishes known. Fewer families and healthcare providers will have to struggle with making difficult healthcare decisions in the absence of guidance from the patient, and healthcare providers and facilities will be better equipped to address advance healthcare planning issues before a crisis and be better able to honor patient wishes when the time comes to do so.
Here are a few more details about National Healthcare Decisions Day:
Why is National Healthcare Decisions Day happening? NHDD exists to “to inspire, educate and empower the public and providers about the importance of advance care planning.
Why is NHDD targeted at the public and providers? All adults should discuss and document their healthcare wishes in the event of a crisis. Accidents and acute illness can happen to anyone at any time, but far too few adults have done anything to plan ahead.It is well known that providers can do a better job of raising the topic of advance care planning and incorporating patient's wishes into their delivery of care. NHDD offers a chance to address both these populations at the same time.
Why is NHDD on April 16? It was inspired by Benjamin Franklin's quip that “nothing in life is certain but death and taxes.”
Is NHDD only about end-of-life decisions? No. NHDD encourages all adults to discuss and document their wishes for any event in which they cannot speak for themselves.
How many Americans have engaged in advance are planning? Various studies suggest that only about a quarter of all adults have engaged in advance care planning.
For more information about National Healthcare Decision Day, please visit http://nhdd.org.
