National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) is an initiative to educate and empower the public and health care providers about the importance of advanced care planning. It is held annually on April 16.

NHDD encourages individuals to take the opportunity to think about their health care wishes and to take action to make sure their wishes are known, even if they are unable to direct their own care. It also encourages health care providers to respect those wishes.

Advance Directives
You can make your healthcare decisions known by using an advance directive. An advance directive is a form that you fill out to tell your doctor and family what kind of medical care you want if you are too sick or hurt to talk or make decisions. If you do not have one, members of your family will have to make decisions about your care based on what they think you want.

Here are the three most common types of advance directives in Alabama.

  • Living Will: This is used to write down ahead of time what kind of care you do or do not want if you are too sick to speak for yourself.
  • Health Care Proxy: This is someone you pick to speak for you and make the choices you would make if you could. If you pick a proxy, talk to that person and be sure he or she knows how you feel about different kinds of medical treatments.
  • Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care: Similar to a Health Care Proxy, this document allows you to name another person to make certain medical decisions for you if you are unable to make them for yourself. The person you pick does not need to be a lawyer.

You can choose to use any or all of these. Health care providers usually have forms you can fill out if you are ready to write down your wishes. You can also change your mind at any time as long as you can speak for yourself. Simply write down your wishes on new forms and tear up the old forms. Then, make sure you give copies of the new forms to anyone who needs a copy. If you have questions about the medical decisions, talk with your doctor. If you have any legal questions, check with your lawyer, or call your local Area Agency on Aging for help.

Resources
More information can be found on The Conversation Project website. It includes resources to help you start a conversation with your family about your health care wishes. It’s important for your family members to understand your decisions and why you made them.

The Alabama Hospital Association has Alabama specific resources on its website.