Imagine…you are in the hospital and you can’t speak for yourself. Who will speak for you? With an advance directive, your loved ones are empowered to make choices about your health care, and can act with the knowledge that they are following your wishes. An advance directive is a document that states a person’s choices for medical treatment and/or names a health care agent, usually a family member or close friend.
April 16 marks National Health Decisions Day (NHDD), when people are encouraged, regardless of age or health status, to create an advance directive. The task is surprisingly simple. But while 90 percent of Americans have heard of advance directives, only 29 percent have them. The staff at Door County Medical Center want to help change this, by offering free counseling, to help individuals create their advance directives.