April 2022 is South Carolina Health Care Decisions Month

SCHCDM

Mar 25

April 2022 Is South Carolina Healthcare Decisions Month

Talk About It. It’s More Than a Document!

The Governor has proclaimed April as South Carolina Health Care Decisions Month! This is an initiative designed to raise public awareness of the need to plan for future health care decisions, especially those related to end-of-life care and medical decision making when individuals are unable to speak for themselves, and to encourage advance care planning (ACP) to communicate those important decisions to loved ones and health care providers.

Although most people recognize the importance of ACP, very few have taken the steps to communicate and document their future health care wishes. Furthermore, ACP is more than a document, such as a Health Care Power of Attorney; it is a process that individuals should repeat periodically throughout their lives.

We encourage statewide participation in National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD), April 16, 2022, which focuses on inspiring, educating, and empowering the public and health care providers about the importance of advance care planning.

In South Carolina, however, the governor has proclaimed the entire month of April as South Carolina Healthcare Decisions Month, as this work should not be limited to one day. This approach provides flexibility for our stakeholders to develop and implement several activities, both large and small.

During the month of April all healthcare workers and the public are encouraged to focus on advance care planning regarding your healthcare choices should there be a time when you cannot speak for yourself. April is a time for activities to inspire, educate, and empower all South Carolinians to:

· Think about what is important to you if you cannot speak for yourself,

· Talk about your choices with your loved ones and healthcare providers,

· Write your wishes down, and

· Repeat this process periodically throughout your life.

Examine and talk about what is important to you at all stages of your life, whether you are young and healthy, or if you are facing health care issues that impact, or may impact, your health status. Share your decisions with your loved ones and health care team. More information on what you can do to celebrate Health Care Decisions Month is available at https://www.mylifemychoices.org/blog/schcdm-call-to-action-maaje and https://www.mylifemychoices.org/decisions-month-toolkit.

Download our ACP Bubble Map to get started! If you want, share yours on social media and tag it #WhatMattersMost.

Use our ACP Bubble Map to answer these questions, and then pick up the phone, start a video chat or send an email—have an open, honest conversation with someone important about #WhatMattersMost.

Not sure how to host an event online? We recommend using Zoom. Find out how. »

There is perhaps no more appropriate time for us to think and talk about these questions than while confronting the realities of a global pandemic.

Our education campaign is meant to encourage people, including healthcare professionals, to express their goals of care and for their healthcare providers and facilities to develop supportive processes to ensure every person’s healt care is in accordance with their goals, values and preferences—at all stages of life, in all steps of their care.

View the S.C. Healthcare Decisions Month Toolkit

We can’t plan for everything, but we can help manage life’s unknowns by talking openly about what matters and what we’d want most if we become seriously ill. Conversations about things we can’t control can actually help give us a sense of control.

A good day tomorrow starts with a good talk today. If you became seriously ill, would the people who matter most really know what matters most to you? Share the kind of care that’s right for you, and what your good days look like—no matter what happens tomorrow.

My Life My Choices provides tools to help South Carolinians understand that making future healthcare decisions includes much more than deciding what care they would or would not want. It starts with thinking about preferences and clarifying values, talking about care preferences with loved ones and writing down those preferences in an advance directive that you share with your loved ones and your doctors.

Join us this April for South Carolina Healthcare Decisions Month by pledging to participate here.

Take the S.C. Healthcare Decisions Month Pledge

Best Practice: Crosswalk of South Carolina Advance Care Planning Documents and Laws

Each state has its own laws governing the documents that are recognized as advance directives. Sorting them out can be confusing for the public as well as other professionals. To clarify the various documents, My Life My Choices developed a “Crosswalk” of South Carolina Advance Care Planning Documents and Laws, which provides a summary of the various documents and their attributes.

The preferred advance directive in South Carolina, according to many healthcare attorneys and healthcare professionals, is the South Carolina Healthcare Power of Attorney, as it covers most situations and is the most flexible.

Resource: Crosswalk of South Carolina Advance Care Planning Documents and Laws

View Toolkit

Take Pledge