Cooley Dickinson Recognizes National Healthcare Decisions Day April 16

NORTHAMPTON — Join members of Cooley Dickinson Health Care Palliative Care team at Thornes Marketplace on Saturday, April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., as they recognize National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) by providing free resources and information about advance care planning and advance directive forms.

NHDD was created to inspire, educate, and empower the public and providers about the importance of advance care planning. The theme for 2016 is “it always seems too early, until it’s too late.”

“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,” said Dr. Jeff Zesiger, palliative care physician and medical director of the Palliative Care program at Cooley Dickinson Health Care.

“People struggle with starting these conversations,” he added. “Our goal is to fill out a healthcare proxy for everyone over 17 years old and to discuss medical wishes with anyone who has a serious illness.”

For more information about National Healthcare Decision Day, visit www.nhdd.org.