End-of-life decisions encouraged in advance

ALBANY — Saturday is National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD), a day in which there is a push to raise awareness on the importance of making sure a person’s wishes are expressed regarding what they want done in the event their physical state takes a turn for the worst.

NHDD exists to “inspire, educate and empower the public and providers about the importance of advance care planning.” It’s an initiative, those with the awareness campaign say, to encourage patients to express their wishes regarding health care and for providers and facilities to respect those wishes.

It exists as a 50-state annual initiative to provide information on health care decision-making to both the public and providers through tools to guide the process. It is meant to brings a variety of players in the larger community together for a common goal, the campaign said.

“End-of-life is very uncomfortable,” said Mandie Chavers, quality coordinator at the intensive care unit at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. “This day offers us the opening statement to talk about it. There’s a finality to (an end-of-life) decision. Unfortunately, you have to talk about things that are uncomfortable.

“It is impactful for us at the hospital … Here at the hospital, we see patients and families when they are at their worst. They are nervous, and they don’t know what to do. If a patient is unresponsive, family members have a hard time making decisions when they don’t know (what the patients) want done.”

The bottom line, Chavers said, is that people need to communicate to their families what their wishes are and get the necessary paperwork in order, and to ensure family members and physicians have access to the documentation. Advanced directives typically involve power of attorney or a living will.

“We see family members so torn, and their loved one is suffering in bed. They are torn and hearing what the medical folks are telling them … (People) need to have those conversations openly,” she said.

Chavers said getting families to talk about the person while they were in a better state can sometimes lead to a decision that cannot otherwise be made.

“If they are struggling, if you bring them back to a point the person is healthy … It sometimes help them make a decision,” she said.

A key goal of NHDD is to clarify health care decision-making and make the topic unavoidable. Every health care facility is expected to participate as the flagship venues for public contact and discussion. At Phoebe, much of that guidance is currently handled through the hospital’s Spiritual Care department — which arranges for contact information to be published when a patient’s situation may call for assistance.

Georgians wishing to get their advanced directives on paper can fill out the form found at aging.dhs.georgia.gov/sites/aging.dhs.georgia.gov/files/related_files/service GEORGIA_ADVANCE_DIRECTIVE_FOR_HEALTH_CARE-10.pdf. The form is found within the last 15 pages of the document.

No attorney fee is required, but a signature is required by two witnesses who are not agents of the health care facility where a patient is being treated. A decision can be reversed if the individual changes their mind later.

The Spiritual Care department at Phoebe can be reached at (229) 312-4670.