National Association to STOP Guardian Abuse

April 15, 2009 - PRLog -- NASGA
National Association to STOP Guardian Abuse
www.StopGuardianAbuse.org  
http://NASGA-StopGuardianAbuse.blogspot.com

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release

April 16, 2009
For more information contact:
Annie McKenna
NASGA Media Liaison
info@StopGuardianAbuse.org
___________________________________________________________________

National Healthcare Decisions Day
April 16, 2009

Today is a day devoted to truth, reality, protection and intimacy.

The truth is:  every one of us will be physically or mentally vulnerable at some point in our lifetime.  We don’t want to think about it for ourselves, or even worse, for our cherished parents, grandparents, or even our children.

The reality is:   we are all human beings who, despite our best efforts to stay young and/or healthy, will one day have to face the inevitable.  

When that happens, we may not be able to speak for ourselves or even make our wishes known; and we could even be totally helpless.

Today, National Healthcare Decisions Day, should remind you of the opportunity to arrange for future protection to avoid the day when that will not be possible.

“Aging With Dignity” (www.AgingWithDignity.org) offers “Five Wishes” – an intimate discussion with your family/loved ones, and physician - of your personal, emotional, spiritual and medical needs, stating specifically:
1.   Which person you want to make health care decisions for you when
you can't make them;  
2.   The kind of medical treatment you want or don't want;
3.   How comfortable you want to be;  
4.   How you want people to treat you; and  
5.   What you want your loved ones to know.

NASGA is a civil rights organization comprised of victims and families working to expose and end unlawful and abusive guardianships/conservatorships.  Uncaring or corrupt courts have rendered many of our members powerless to protect their loved ones at their end of life. They have been shut out of medical decisions and medical records; unable to free their loved ones from forced incarceration in nursing homes and forced chemical restraints.  And they have been fighting tirelessly for their loved ones’ rights and liberties, most often to no avail.

While our members know firsthand that executed advance directives are often disregarded in favor of unlawful and abusive guardianship/conservatorships, nonetheless, it is for that very reason we attempt to educate people that they must take every preventive measure to protect themselves for the future.  We must do this for ourselves and our family members.  

NASGA wholeheartedly endorses “Five Wishes” on this important day, and we hope people of all generations will honor their family and caregivers with an intimate discussion of their own “Five Wishes.”

For more information on unlawful and abusive guardianships/conservatorships, visit NASGA’s website at  http://www.stopguardianabuse.org and the NASGA blog at http://NASGA-StopGuardianAbuse.blogspot.com

# # #

NASGA is a public benefit civil rights organization founded by several victims and for victims of unlawful and abusive guardianship and conservatorship cases