National Healthcare Decisions Day: A Starting Point for Every Stage of Planning
National Healthcare Decisions Day: A Starting Point for Every Stage of Planning
A Guide for National Healthcare Decisions Day, April 16
Every April 16, National Healthcare Decisions Day serves as a national call to action: have the conversations you’ve been putting off. Put the documents in place. Make sure the people who love you know what you want. It sounds simple. For most families, it is anything but.
At Veramazo, we work with families across New Jersey every day who are navigating these decisions, sometimes with plenty of time to plan, and sometimes in the middle of a crisis. What we’ve learned is that no two families start from the same place. Some have barely had the first conversation. Others have a binder full of documents but no idea what to do next. Most fall somewhere in between.
This guide is designed to meet you where you are. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to make sure everything is truly in order, here is what we recommend.
If You Haven't Started Yet
First: you’re not alone, and you’re not behind. Most families haven’t formally addressed advance care planning. The discomfort is real. The subject touches on mortality, on loss of independence, on family dynamics that are often complicated. Avoiding it is human. But the cost of not having a plan, when a health event forces decisions in real time, is enormous.
Start with a conversation, not a checklist.
Before any documents, before any research, the most important first step is simply asking your aging parent or loved one what matters to them. Where do they want to live as they get older? What does a good quality of life look like for them? What are their fears? You don’t need to solve anything in the first conversation. You just need to open the door.
Learn the foundational documents.
Three documents form the core of any advance care plan:
- A healthcare proxy (or durable power of attorney for healthcare) designates someone to make medical decisions if your loved one cannot speak for themselves.
- A living will or advance directive outlines their wishes for end-of-life care, including what interventions they do or do not want.
- A POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) translates those wishes into actionable medical orders that follow your loved one from setting to setting.
These aren’t depressing documents. They are empowering ones. Having them in place means your loved one’s voice is heard, no matter what happens.
If You've Had the Conversations but Nothing Is on Paper
This is one of the most common places families find themselves. The conversations have happened. Everyone has a general sense of what Mom or Dad wants. But nothing is formalized, and if something happened tomorrow, there would be no legal framework to support those wishes.
Get the documents signed.
An elder law attorney can help you formalize an advance directive, healthcare proxy, and any relevant estate planning documents. In New Jersey, these documents have specific requirements to be legally valid, and having an attorney walk you through them ensures nothing is missed.
Understand the full continuum of care.
Most families don’t realize how many care options exist between “living at home” and “a nursing home.” There are in-home care services, independent living communities, assisted living facilities, memory care units, and continuing care retirement communities, each suited to different levels of need. Understanding the landscape now means you won’t be making rushed decisions during a health crisis.
Start exploring before you need to.
Even if a move feels years away, visiting a few senior living communities now is one of the most valuable things a family can do. It removes the fear of the unknown, gives you a baseline for comparison, and helps your family align on what feels right before any urgency is involved.
If Your Plan Is in Place but Needs a Refresh
You have the documents. You’ve done the research. Your family has talked through the hard things. That’s real work, and it matters. But advance care planning isn’t a one-time event. It’s an ongoing conversation.
Make sure the right people have access.
Your loved one’s advance directive and healthcare proxy should be on file with their primary care physician, any specialists they see regularly, and in a place the family can access quickly in an emergency. A document that exists but cannot be found in a crisis provides little protection.
Revisit annually.
Healthcare wishes can change after a diagnosis, a change in living situation, or simply as someone ages and their priorities shift. National Healthcare Decisions Day is a natural prompt to sit down once a year and ask: is this plan still right for us?
Plan for what comes next.
Even well-prepared families sometimes find that the care arrangement they planned for is no longer the right fit. Needs evolve. Communities change. Having an advisor who knows the local landscape means you’re never starting from scratch when something shifts.
Where Veramazo Fits In
We are an elder care advisory and placement service based in New Jersey, and our role is to help families navigate all of this with clarity. We’re not a nursing home. We’re not a law firm. We’re the people who help you understand what options exist, which questions to ask, and which professionals to call, so that when a decision needs to be made, you’re not figuring it out alone.
Whether you’re at the very beginning of this process or looking for a second opinion on a plan that’s already in place, we’re here for that conversation.
This National Healthcare Decisions Day, we’d like to invite you to reach out. There is no wrong place to start.
