Make your Health Care Wishes Known

Long-Term Care Ombudsman Encourages Kentuckians to Make Advance Health Care Wishes Known

Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
Press Release Date: Thursday, April 10, 2008
Contact Information: Janis Stewart or Gwenda Bond,
(502) 564-6786, ext. 3326 and ext. 3325

FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 10, 2008) – Most people can’t read your mind when you’re healthy, let alone try to figure out your wishes during a major health crisis while under additional stress. Be kind to your loved ones; make those decisions in advance; and have them legally documented.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ Long-Term Care Ombudsman (LTCO), along with other national, state and community organizations, is leading an effort to highlight the importance of advance healthcare decision-making—an effort that has culminated in the formal designation of April 16, 2008, as the inaugural National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD).

Despite the fact that the importance and benefits of advance directives have been proven repeatedly for many years, only a small minority of Americans have executed an advance directive, according to information on the NHDD website. NHDD seeks to address this issue by focusing attention on advance healthcare planning from a variety of directions simultaneously across the United States.

Any number of professionals such as healthcare providers, chaplains, attorneys, and long-term care ombudsmen can provide clear, concise, and consistent information and tools for executing written advance directives about healthcare power of attorney and/or living will in accordance with state laws.

“I encourage, Kentuckians to have thoughtful conversations about their healthcare decisions and complete reliable advance directives to make their wishes known,” said Jackie Strader, Kentucky’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman. ” An advance directive allows you to give instructions about your health care, clearly explaining what you want done or not done if the time comes when you can’t speak for yourself. ”

For more information on this initiative and advance health care directives, visit www.nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.org or http://chfs.ky.gov/omb/ltco.htm call the LTCO at 502/564-5497.

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