April 16 marks the seventh annual Healthcare Decisions Day in the Commonwealth of Virginia. On that day, related events will raise public awareness of the need to plan ahead for healthcare decisions concerning end-of-life care and for medical issues in circumstances when patients are not able to speak for themselves. <\/p>\n
Accordingly, the occasion also encourages people to use documents known as advance directives to communicate these key healthcare decisions.<\/p>\n
In Virginia, all adults have the right to prepare an advance directive, which spells out their wishes concerning their medical care. The purpose of an advance directive is to let other people know, in writing, what types of medical care they would like to have \u2014 or not to have \u2014 in the event that they become incapable of making informed healthcare decisions themselves.<\/p>\n
An advance directive, also known as a healthcare power of attorney or medical directive, may come in one of two (more…)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" April 16 marks the seventh annual Healthcare Decisions Day in the Commonwealth of Virginia. On that day, related events will raise public awareness of the need to plan ahead for healthcare decisions concerning end-of-life care and for medical issues in…<\/span><\/p>\n