In a recent survey of more than 500 adults conducted by Baylor Health Care System, 64% of respondents say they do not have a medical advance care plan.
Why don’t more patients have a living will or other form of advance care plan? Survey answers varied from “I’ll do this when I’m older” to “I trust my family to make decisions for me.”
According to Robert Fine, MD, Clinical Director of the Office of Clinical Ethics and Palliative Care for Baylor Health Care System, “life is fickle and we can’t predict when we might be hit with an illness that leaves us unable to communicate, but we do know that up to 80% of seriously ill patients become unable to make their wishes known. The person that says he will wait till he is older runs a serious risk of waiting too long. Families report that making decisions for their loved ones in the absence of a living will is the most stressful decision they have ever faced.”
That’s why Baylor Health Care System is joining with organizations and families across the country to mark National Healthcare Decisions Day on April 16 – a day to educate, empower and encourage patients and families to explore advanced care planning. Advanced care planning allows people to decide the extent of medical treatment they would like to receive if they are facing permanent, serious impairment or have no hope of recovery and to document those treatment preferences with an advance directive.
Although there are several types of advance directives, the most important is the Living Will or Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates. Completion of a living will is associated with receiving treatment more in line with individual patient values, better symptom control, less family stress, and more.
To make the conversation and planning process easier, Baylor has posted these and other free, downloadable advanced care planning documents on their website: Baylorhealth.com/MyDecisions
“April 16 is a day to highlight this important conversation, but it‘s just a start,” says Dr. Fine. “The bottom line is this: Advance care planning is necessary, the benefits are real, and the tools exist to help. Take the opportunity while you are healthy to start the conversation with your doctor and your loved ones.”
For more information & full coverage of Baylor's involvement in the national campaign visit our NHDD 2012 newsroom page.
Contact:
Julie Smith
972.800.4060
Julie.Smith2@baylorhealth.edu
About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com