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Educational Topics
Health Care Decisions Day
By David Blackmon, Pastor, Previousley Director of Pastoral Care, Mission Hospitals
Health Care Decisions Day is a good time to take stock and ask, “Do the ones I love most know what I value when it comes to care at life’s end?” Tough question! In my role as a chaplain and ethics committee member at Mission Hospitals, I often shared in the stories of patients and families struggling with these decisions. Knowing “what mother would want” at life’s end can be a blessing. Not knowing can create conflict at the most difficult of times. Fortunately, there are some new tools to help in this work. The goal of all of them is the same, to help people make their wishes known.
Fives Wishes does just that. This user friendly advance directive puts hard medical decisions in clear, everyday language. The pages outline lists of choices like who should make decisions when the patient can’t or medical treatments that a patient may want or not want. It indentifies patient values about pain management, guidance about routines of care, and personal statements the patient wants family to know and cherish. It is just one way to record legal directives about medical treatment. Learn more about Five Wishes at http://www.agingwithdignity.org/5wishes.html.
Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (MOST) records medical choices in a physician’s order. MOST reflects four years of work beginning right here in Buncombe County. The bright pink medical order allows seriously-ill persons with a limited life expectancy to outline specific health decisions with their doctor. This physician’s order is recorded on a state-authorized form that can be followed by other physicians and health care providers, like Emergency Medical Services. MOST takes a big step in making medical choices about life’s end plain. View the MOST form and information about MOST at http://www.ncmedsoc.org/pages/public_health_info/end_of_life.html.
Organ, eye, and tissue donation is a natural topic in a good conversation about end-of-life care. In 2007, North Carolina lawmakers caught up with the general populace by making the heart on the driver’s license legal consent for donation. This means that patient’s have a voice about donation even after death. But, having a discussion with family is vital in knowing why the decision to donate life is important to their loved one. There’s more information at www.donatelife.org. The site links to an online registry that allows North Carolinians to register their decision about organ, eye, and tissue donation.
Decisions about care at life’s end demand some of the same attention to detail as getting that tax return in on April 15. Beginning with what brings joy and meaning to life is a good place to start. Exploring decisions about organ, eye, and tissue donation fits. Reviewing current health status and any future changes demands honesty. Talking to doctor, family, and friends about goals and limits for medical care may be hard. Communicating that plan through advance directives or other means, like MOST, strengthens self-advocacy. And that is the best resource for good care, now and at life’s end. Find even more resources at the North Carolina Center for Hospice and End of Life Care- http://www.carolinasendoflifecare.org/.
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