MAKING IMPORTANT DECISIONS FOR YOUR LOVED ONES
April 16 is National Health Care Decisions Day
National Health Care Decisions Day — recognized each year on April 16 — exists to inspire and educate the public and providers about the importance of advance care planning. Stemming from the Patient Self-Determination Act, the day aims to empower patients to maintain autonomy for end-of-life wishes in the instance they lose the capacity for decision-making.
Every time a patient is admitted, UF Health and every health care facility, are required by law to ask if a patient has an advance directive — a written statement of a person’s wishes regarding medical treatment to ensure their wants are carried out should the person be unable to communicate them to a physician.
Sheri Kittelson, M.D., a clinical associate professor, serves as division chief for the UF Health Palliative Care Program in the UF Department of Medicine. She has dedicated herself to bringing awareness about advance planning to UF Health, the community and her patients with life-limiting illnesses in order to eliminate unnecessary suffering that can result from high-symptom burden, poor understanding of their illness and prognosis, and a care plan that does not match their goals and values.
“Essentially, it’s based on an ethical principle of autonomy, which is really rooted deeply in American history and in American medicine,” Kittelson said. “Where patients want to preserve the right to control their health care decisions and what is or isn’t done for their end of life.”
Kittelson started the program about 10 years ago, and it now consists of an adult inpatient consulting service, a pediatric consulting service and a palliative care clinic in the UF Health Cancer Center. Additionally, the initiative is an academic program, so the palliative care faculty and staff conduct research, focus on quality improvement and help teach medical students, residents and fellows.
After seeing tremendous growth, Kittelson is eager to continue moving in the direction of progress. At the start of the program, a manual query revealed that only 9% of patients had advance directives. Today, that number is 30%, which is in line with national averages.
The most important step to take is to engage in conversations — even if they are difficult — with patients and families to give them the best quality of life with however long they have left, Kittelson said. Moreover, they must also document those wishes and have them safely stored in their electronic health record.
Patients and families of all ages, whether in good or poor health, can suddenly be impacted by a devastating illness. Thus, it is essential to have these difficult conversations before an emergency strikes, so the individual has the power to select who is the best person to be their voice. Taking these precautionary measures is a gift to your family because if those conversations have not happened, loved ones often do not have a roadmap, and the burden of stress multiplies.
Kittelson encourages all members of the UF Health family to consider completing their own advance directive.
“We must exemplify the change that we’re asking our patients to do, so each of us should have an advance directive,” she said. “I want to empower all of our health care providers to do this for themselves. It will make it much more comfortable having conversations with patients.”
National Health Care Decisions Day is strategically positioned on the day after Tax Day in order to easily encourage people to fill out their advance directive for the first time or review it for accuracy.
However, Alachua County takes it one step further.
About five years ago, the day transformed into National Health Care Decisions Month. The community takes advantage of these extra days by hosting a series of events where employees are encouraged to fill out their advance directives, including panel talks and a variety of other activities in partnership with UF Health, Alachua County Veterans Services, North Florida Regional Medical Center and other local hospices.
It is important to recognize that mortality is a natural part of human life, Kittelson said. Completing these documents in advance helps to make the end of life as smooth, comfortable and peaceful as possible. Help UF Health support your decision and create a plan that is best for you by filling out an advance directive today.
Visit the UF Health Advance Directives website for more information and resources on this important topic.
