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Georgia Health Decisions

CRITICAL Conditions

CRITICAL Conditions is a community educational program that helps people understand and plan for their health care at the end of life. This advance care planning program and the CRITICAL Conditions Planning Guide were developed by Georgia Health Decisions following extensive research to understand the opinions, attitudes and values people have about health care at the end of life. Focus groups were conducted across the country and throughout Georgia to guide the creation of the CRITICAL Conditions program. Additionally, the program was piloted in eight communities in Georgia from 1998 – 2000. Since that time, the CRITICAL Conditions program has been expanded through the participation of health systems across Georgia and other states.

About Georgia Health Decisions

Georgia Health Decisions seeks to educate Georgians about health care issues, stimulate discussions that activate a sense of community responsibility for health care, and listen to citizens in order to communicate their voices to policy makers. Georgia Health Decisions draws on a wide range of methodologies to accomplish these goals. Approaches to creating public dialogue include community forums, workshops and regional conferences. Methodologies of a more structured research approach include focus groups, citizen panels and surveys. Educational elements range from traditional distribution of printed, audio and video materials to speakers' bureaus and full-scale media campaigns.

Georgia Health Decisions knows that our citizens wrestle with difficult health choices in their own lives and welcome the opportunity to address public policy on health care. Our research shows Georgians hold deeply-rooted moral beliefs and tell a complex story about the health care system Georgians deserve and should strive to attain.

CRITICAL Conditions

A Planning Guide

It is never easy to talk with your loved ones about the medical treatments you would want if you could not communicate on your own. The nationally acclaimed CRITICAL Conditions Program makes the process easier and more effective. The centerpiece of the program—The CRITICAL Conditions Planning Guide—walks you through advance care planning, beginning with meaningful conversations among your family members and resulting in the legal documentation of your preferences. By completing the steps outlined in this booklet, you can prepare yourself and your loved ones to make difficult decisions. Many of the issues raised in the CRITICAL Conditions Planning Guide may be hard for you to talk about. While the conversation will not always be easy, it is one of the most important discussions you will ever have.

Getting Involved

Health institutions and organizations, financial planners and estate attorneys, employers and others in Georgia are invited to participate in the CRITICAL Conditions program by promoting advance care planning and making the CRITICAL Conditions Planning Guide and other materials available to your patients, clients, employees and community. The benefits in implementing the CRITICAL Conditions program are:

  • Receiving recognition for providing an important public service for the community,
  • Increasing awareness and communication among families on issues regarding end-of-life health care,
  • Providing tools for physicians to enhance their communication and understanding of patients' final health care wishes,
  • Improving the dying experience within the community for patients, family members and health care professionals.

To become a participant in the CRITICAL Conditions program, call Lynne Kernaghan at contact information given.

What features are included in the CRITICAL Conditions Program?

CRITICAL Conditions Getting Involved

The CRITICAL Conditions Planning Guide - a powerful and comprehensive tool that uses real-life scenarios to help people talk about their final health care decisions with family members and document those preferences using the Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care.

Public Awareness Materials - an array of materials applicable in a variety of settings to educate the public to facilitate final health care discussion by holding the important "conversation” about the topic.

  • Brochures and brochure display stands
  • Posters
  • Advance Directive Patient Information Cards in English and Spanish
  • "Your Gift to Them" DVD
  • "Who Will Speak For You?" DVD
  • Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care in Spanish

Frequently Asked Questions

CRITICAL Conditions FAQ

Why is the CRITICAL Conditions Program important to me?

Imagine you are lying in a hospital bed unconscious and not able to speak for yourself and to buy viagra 100mg in Australia. Decisions need to be made about medical treatments to prolong your life. How would your loved ones feel about having to make these decisions? Would they know what you want – or do not want? Those who have faced this situation can tell you how hard it is. They will also tell you how much they wish they had known what their loved one wanted. Don’t let this happen to your family. Use the CRITICAL Conditions Planning Guide to talk to them about your final health care preferences.

How did the CRITICAL Conditions Program begin?

When the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation began their focus on end-of-life care in 1996, they awarded a grant to American Health Decisions to identify Americans’ attitudes, opinions and values about death and dying. Georgia Health Decisions undertook this project on behalf of American Health Decisions. The project encompassed 36 focus groups conducted across the country, resulting in the report entitled The Quest to Die with Dignity.

Following this nationwide study, Georgia Health Decisions conducted further research in Georgia to support the development of a comprehensive program to educate and assist Georgians in planning for their end-of-life care. The organization raised more than $1.5 million to develop and test the CRITICAL Conditions program in eight pilot communities. Seeking to understand how to improve the end-of-life experiences for Georgians, GHD conducted focus groups with family members of loved ones who had died in 11 hospitals. The resulting report, A Silent Anguish, presented unique insights into the difficulties faced by patients and families during the last months of life. Beginning in 2000, GHD began working with health systems to implement CRITICAL Conditions across the state. Today, more than 100 health organizations and trust/estate professionals utilize the CRITICAL Conditions materials with their patients and in their communities.

Contact us

For information about Georgia Health Decisions contact:

Beverly A. Tyler, Executive Director

404-874-9327

ghdatl@mindspring.com

For information about the CRITICAL ConditionsSM program, contact:

Lynne M. Kernaghan

Program Coordinator, Marketing

478-474-0095

kernaghanL@cox.net

Board of Trustees

Health Development Resource

3375 Springhill Parkway, #1126

Smyrna, Georgia 30080

770-630-1346

Map to Us

Reviewed By Has 62 publications, the author of 3 patents for inventions, 2 teaching aids on medical and pharmaceutical education of Australian universities for use in the educational process in medical universities.

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