So who will make medical decisions for you if you can’t make them for yourself?
Gulp.
I know, this question has been on your to-do list for years. If you are like over 90 percent of Americans, you know you should talk about your wishes for end of life care. You know you should write an advance directive. And you know you should choose someone who will speak for you if you can’t.
Yet nearly 2 out of 3 of us still haven’t done it. And some have only chosen a healthcare proxy or agent with little or no thought after a lawyer or doctor suddenly pushed a form across the desk.
The reality is that choosing a healthcare proxy/agent is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make.
But before I sound like a tour guide on a guilt trip, there’s good news. Monday begins National Healthcare Decisions Day — a day and week when people across the country are urged to consider their wishes, sign advance care directives and choose their decision maker.
In honor of NHDD, The Conversation Project has created a short video—- https://theconversationproject.org/who-will-speak-for-you/
with some funny and warm examples of what a good healthcare proxy/agent looks like (and what one doesn’t looks like!).
We hope you will watch, laugh, think seriously about who you would want to speak for you— and then use the tools we offer at www.theconversationproject.org to start the conversation and end the guilt.