For Immediate Release |
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NASW Promotes National Healthcare Decisions Day 2009
Washington, DC - The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), in collaboration with other national, state and community organizations, supports the second annual National Healthcare Decisions Day on April 16, 2009. National Healthcare Decisions Day is designated to encourage advance care planning for all adults.
Despite recent gains in public awareness of the need for advance care planning, studies indicate that most Americans have not exercised their right to make decisions about their healthcare in the event that they cannot speak for themselves.
The NHDD initiative is committed to ensuring that all adults with decision-making capacity in the United States have the information and opportunity to communicate and document their healthcare decisions.
“Social workers can help clients understand that making future healthcare decisions includes much more than deciding what care they would or would not want,” said Dr. Elizabeth Clark, executive director of NASW. “It starts with expressing preferences, clarifying values, identifying care preferences and selecting an agent to express healthcare decisions if patients are unable to speak for themselves.”
Social workers are advocates for advance health care planning, and are an excellent resource for persons who are unsure or unclear about the benefits of advance planning. Social workers can offer information regarding advance health care planning, including information about the process of creating an advance health care plan, choosing a health care agent, as well as helping to prepare and further explain the meaning of advance health care documents.
NASW is proud to support the second annual National Health Care Decisions Day and is hopeful that this day will create a heightened sense of awareness among Americans to make advance health care decisions.
For more information on NHDD, visit: www.nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.org or contact Karyn Walsh, NASW National Office at 202-408-8600, ext. 448, or kwalsh@naswdc.org.
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The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), in Washington, DC, is the largest membership organization of professional social workers with 140,000 members. It promotes, develops, and protects the practice of social work and social workers. NASW also seeks to enhance the well being of individuals, families, and communities through its advocacy.