Terms to know for National Healthcare Decisions Day

April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day, a day when Americans are encouraged to talk to their loved ones and friends about what matters most to them when it comes to end-of-life care.

With activities planned all over the country, April is a great time to start the conversation. In recognition of National Healthcare Decisions Day, the Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association (PCHPCA) is providing terms every adult should know:

• Advance Care Planning — A process for identifying wishes for future medical care should a person become unable to speak for him/herself. The critical task in advance care planning is to clarify values and goals as a guideline for others to follow, rather than trying to address every possible medical situation. It requires conversations with loved ones, key health care providers and anyone else who may be involved in future decision-making. It can begin at any point in a person’s life, regardless of current health status. Ideally, these wishes are documented in an advance directive, recorded in the medical record, revisited periodically and become more specific as the person’s health changes.

• Advance Directive — A general term for any document in which someone provides instructions about their health care wishes or appoints someone to make health care decisions for them should they become unable to for themselves. Living wills and health care representatives are both types of advance directives. They are signed in “advance” and shared with health care representatives, loved ones and health care professionals. These documents and preferences may be changed or canceled at any time, either verbally or in writing.

• Health Care Representative — A type of advance directive in which someone is appointed to make medical decisions for a person if they should become unable to make them for themselves. The person named is called a representative, and may also be referred to as an agent, proxy or durable power of attorney for health care.

• Living Will — A type of advance directive in which wishes are stated for the types of medical care a person wants or does not want should they become unable to speak for themselves. Generally, living wills address one’s preferences about end-of-life medical treatments. However, they can also communicate wishes, values or goals about any other aspect of their care and treatment.

The Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association is a nonprofit public charity that has joined national, state and community efforts to increase the quality of life for seriously ill persons, their loved ones, their caregivers and the health care community in Putnam County.

For more information, contact Director Elaine Peck at epeck@pchosp.org or visit www.pchpca.org.