Photo Caption: Dr. Robert Sawicki is senior vice president of supportive care for OSF HealthCare.

Today, April 16, is National Healthcare Decisions Day — a day to encourage adults to communicate their end-of-life decisions to family and health care providers.

“Often, people believe their families know their care wishes, but they do not,” said Janavee Barton, public relations and communications specialist for OSF HealthCare. “It is best to document care wishes while everyone is healthy and thinking clearly.”

The goal of National Healthcare Decisions Day is to educate adults about how to document and communicate their health care decisions to doctors and loved ones through advance care planning. OSF HealthCare, for example, provides education at osf.supportivecare.org.

“As a result of National Healthcare Decisions Day, more people in our communities can be expected to have thoughtful conversations about their health care decisions and complete a Power of Attorney for Health Care form to make their wishes known,” said Dr. Robert Sawicki, senior vice president of supportive care for OSF HealthCare. “Fewer families and health care providers will have to struggle with making difficult health care decisions in the absence of guidance from the patient.”