Give the best gift ever to your family

Would your loved ones know your wishes in the event you had a health crisis and were not able to communicate? Did you know 90 percent of people believe talking with their loved ones about their medical wishes is important, but only 27 percent have done so? National Healthcare Decisions Day is April 16. This week observances focus on discussing important healthcare decisions with our families, loved ones and healthcare providers, and taking time to make our wishes known.

Completing an advance directive can be a gift to your friends and family. It can spare them and your medical providers from having to guess what would be important to you in a medical crisis. Despite the wide availability of advance directives, far too many of us don’t have one.

We generally spend time thinking and planning for the future. This includes deciding where to live and saving for retirement. We plan for months – or years – for weddings and vacations; and Super Bowl and New Year’s Eve parties. However, most of us haven’t spent much time preparing for a possible medical emergency or serious illness.

Even healthcare professionals who care for patients and families don’t always have an advance directive. That’s why we are encouraging our providers and staff to complete one and to encourage two other people to do so.

If you don’t have an advance directive, family members, doctors or even a court, might have to make those decisions for you. Many of them are unlikely to have a good understanding of what you would want and what is important to you. Even those of us who have an advance directive often haven’t discussed them with our families or even the person we want to make our decisions if we are unable to do so.

What can you do?

• If you don’t have an advance directive, prepare one. If you have one, find it and review it. Does it still represent your wishes?
• If you don’t have an advance directive, or if you are updating yours, consider what you would want for healthcare if you were so ill or critically injured that you could not speak for yourself.
• Consider what quality of life is for you.
• Pick two people to be your agent/proxy, one as primary and the other as alternate. These people should be individuals who are able to handle the stress of making decisions about your care.
• Most importantly, talk about it with your family and your decision maker, as well as your healthcare provider - as well as others who might be involved in discussions about your care. That’s the best step you can take to ensure your wishes for end-of-life care will be respected.
• Encourage other family members complete an advance directive for healthcare for themselves.

The end of life is inevitable. We sometimes make it tougher than it needs to be. Thoughtful planning and open, heartfelt conversations with family about your healthcare wishes is the best gift you can ever give them.

For more information for our Advance Care Planning program here at AtlantiCare, please visit: Advance Care Planning

By: Gavi Degapudi, MD, Medical Director, Care Transitions and Advance Illness Management, AtlantiCare