April Is National Donate

April 16, 2011

April is National Donate

Life Month

The National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) Initiative is a collaborative effort of national, state and community organizations committed to ensuring that all adults with decision-making capacity in the United States have the information and opportunity to communicate and document their healthcare decisions. / National Donate Life Month was established in 2003. Every day in April, people across the U.S. make a special effort to celebrate the tremendous generosity of those who have saved lives by becoming organ, tissue, marrow, and blood donors and to encourage more Americans to follow their fine example.
Knowledge is power!
Get the Facts so you can make a personal decision.

Less than 50 percent of the severely or terminally ill patients studied had an advance directive in their medical record.
Only 12 percent of patients with an advance directive had received input from their physician in its development.
Between 65 and 76 percent of physicians whose patients had an advance directive were not aware that it existed.

More than 107,000 people are in need of an organ for transplant.
Each day, about 77 people get the organ transplant that gives them a second chance, but 17 to 19 others die because they did not receive an organ transplant.
More than half the people on the waiting list for a donated organ are racial or ethnic minorities. Chances of getting a transplant increase if donor and recipient share the same racial/ethnic background.

Let’s get together in April!
Join Americans across the country to talk to others about future healthcare decisionsincluding organ, tissue and eye donation.
Complete your advance directive. Register with your State Donor Registry. Say YES to donation on your driver's license.
The future depends on what we do in the present. –MahatmaGandhi

The following are specific resources that your organization can use to promote National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) and your local activities. These resources are provided as templates and can be adapted to include your local contact information and other information needed.

Newsletter article about NHDD
Press release for NHDD community activities
Op Ed (written by Nathan Kottkamp, Chair, National Healthcare Decisions Day)
E-News and newsletter announcements about NHDD
NHDD proposed proclamation for communities and states
Recruitment letter about NHDD
Sample email for national organizations
Event planning checklist
NHDD community outreach PowerPoint presentation
NHDD stickers: Sticker logo PDF File, Sticker template-Compatible with Avery 5294 round labels
NHDD event poster template (with text), NHDD event poster template (blank)
NHDD ad slick templates: full page; half page; quarter page
NHDD Radio Scripts (30and 60 seconds) from the Center for Practical Bioethics
NHDD Conversation Scripts
NHDD Logos: JPG File,EPS File
Facility emailtemplate
NEW! Participant Feedback Form

Below are some specific ideas and suggestions for ways to implement National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) activities in your community and at your facility on April 16.

Next, make sure everyone in your organization is informed about NHDD (including staff, board of directors, volunteers and others) and ask for their involvement to promote NHDD in your community. (Suggestion: Have staff wear asticker that says “Ask Me About Advance Directives!” See sticker template located above in the Outreach Resources section.)
Set up an exhibit about NHDD at your main entrance and offer information about advance care planning as people come by.
Partner with other local organizations to promote NHDD.You will reach and benefit more people if you do this with others than alone!
Distribute NHDD promotional materials and advance care planning educational brochures at upcoming community events or health fairs.
Give a presentation to community organizations (i.e. Rotary Club, senior centers, workplace settings, faith communities, libraries, patient or family support groups, neighborhood associations) and to the public promoting NHDD and offering advance care planning resources.
Sponsor a community event or “town hall’ meeting about advance care planning.Big events are more likely to generate media coverage than small presentations and they offer an opportunity for more in-depth dialogue with your community.(Suggestion: Ask your local bar association and healthcare organizations for volunteer speakers and/or ask local politicians to attend and publically sign their own advance directive.)
Provide a link on your organizational Web site to is a national Web site with a variety of information for the public and providers on advance care planning.
Partner with your community library to set up a display highlighting books about advance healthcare decision-making and use NHDD promotional resources.
Set up exhibit tables at your local malls, pharmacies, grocery stores, or other locations to provide information about advance care planning and advance directives.
Partner with local retail businesses by asking them to place a promotional flyer about NHDD in every bag.
Send out a press release about your NHDD activities and/or events to your local media.
Publish an Op Ed, letter to the editor or a feature story about the importance of advance care planning in your local newspaper.
Print advertisements in your local newspaper or other local publications, resource guides and newsletters about NHDD activities.(Suggestion: Ask to print the advertisements as public service announcements and see if they will also publish a copy of your state’s advance directive form.)
Offer to provide a guest-speaker on health-related radio or TV programs about advance care planning and NHDD.
Distribute flyers about NHDD in local physician offices and other strategic locations such as elevators in public buildings.
Distribute information to patients at healthcare facilities with their mid-day meal.
Encourage your state leaders to establish a state-sanctioned, secure on-line advance directive registry.