Who Knows Your Dying Wish? 75% of People Have No Plans for End-of-Life Care: Free Living Will Can Get You Talking

An estimated 75 percent of Americans have no plans in place to let their loved ones know their wishes for care if a medical crisis renders them unable to make their own decisions, according to the National Hospice Foundation. Additionally, a substantial proportion, 19 percent, have not thought about end-of-life care at all, while 16 percent have thought about it, but not told anyone their wishes. Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan wants to get people talking on April 16, 2009, the day deemed National Health Care Decisions Day, by offering a free, easy-to use living will called Five Wishes.

Created by Aging with Dignity, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people receive the kind of care they deserve at the end of life, the Five Wishes document helps you express how you want to be treated if you are seriously ill and unable to speak for yourself. It is unique among all other living wills and health agent forms because it addresses a person's needs holistically including medical, personal, emotional and spiritual aspects. Five Wishes also encourages discussing your wishes with your family and physician.

Five Wishes lets your family and doctors know which person you want to make health care decisions for you when you can't make them; the kind of medical treatment you want or don't want; how comfortable you want to be; how you want people to treat you; and what you want your loved ones to know.

As a nonprofit home health care and hospice organization for 111 years, Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan has seen the confusion and conflict that happens when loved ones fail to tell their family their wishes for care at the end of life.

“There are untold emotional burdens for family members who frequently are asking themselves, ‘did I do the right thing?’ ‘Is this what Mom or Dad would have wanted?’,” said Kathleen Holycross, president and chief executive officer of Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan. “Within our own organization, we have trained our social workers to have advance care planning discussions with our patients and families. Knowing a person’s wishes for care can make the difference between years of self doubt or peace of mind.”

The Five Wishes document is available through www.agingwithdignity.org or by calling Aging with Dignity at (888) 5WISHES (594-7437).

About Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan
Founded in 1898, Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan (VNA) is the largest, independent nonprofit home health care and hospice organization to residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties and surrounding communities.

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