National Healthcare Decisions Week: Taking The Time To Plan

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Published on April 02, 2017, 8:13 am
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April 16 to April 22 is National Healthcare Decisions Week – A week set aside to encourage all of us to discuss and document important health care wishes before a stressful health crisis occurs.

These wishes can include decisions about what we value most should we become seriously ill or have a disease that is progressing. Advance care planning allows for the documentation of treatment preferences so our wishes can be followed should we become ill.

It can be tough to get started. It may even feel a bit awkward, but powerful conversations with family members today can ensure end-of-life care preferences are honored and reduce stress and uncertainty in the future. Planning today means that you can take comfort tomorrow in knowing that your loved ones will receive the treatments they want, and be protected from the care that they do not want or value.

According to a national survey by The Conversation Project, more than 90% of the people think it is important to talk about their loved ones’ and their own wishes for end-of-life care, but fewer than 30% of people have actually had these important conversation. Many people simply have not gotten around to taking the necessary steps to make their health care wishes known. Sometimes people do not know how to start the conversation with their loved ones.

A great way to start is by thinking about what is most important to you if you or your loved ones were facing a life threatening or progressive illness and then you can move on to thoughtful and open conversations with those you love. Here are some steps to help get the conversation started:

Advance care planning is a process that happens over time and more often when someone is facing a serious illness. Knowing what patients want and value helps ensure people get the care they want. I have seen firsthand improved quality of life and the sense of peace, calm and satisfaction families experience knowing their loved one’s health care wishes are followed.

 

 

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Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.