Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association (PCHPCA) and other national, state and community organizations, are leading a massive effort to highlight the importance of advance healthcare decision-making - an effort that has culminated in the formal designation of April 15 as National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD).

As a participating organization, PCHCPA is providing information and tools for the public to talk about their wishes with family, friends and healthcare providers, and execute written advance directives (healthcare representative and living will) in accordance with Indiana state laws.

These resources are available at www.pchpca.org or www.nhdd.org.

While April 15 is specifically set aside as National Healthcare Decisions Day, any day is a good day to begin talking about advance care planning and advance care directive forms

As a result of National Healthcare Decisions Day, many more people in our community can be expected to have thoughtful conversations about their healthcare decisions and complete reliable advance directives to make their wishes known.

Fewer families and health care providers will have to struggle with making difficult healthcare decisions in the absence of guidance from the patient, and health care providers and facilities will be better equipped to address advance health care planning issues before a crisis and be better able to honor patient wishes when the time comes to do so.

To learn more about PCHPCA, visit the website above, call 765-301-7614 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..