Resource Link

https://odpc.ucsf.edu/advocacy/supported-health-care-decision-making/partners-in-health-implementing-supported-healthcare#pdf

Resource Description

Introduction: This guide is called "Partners in Health: Implementing Supported Healthcare Decision-Making for Users of Augmentative and Alternative Communication in California." It was created by the Office of Developmental Primary Care at the University of California, San Francisco. The guide helps healthcare providers, people with disabilities, and their supporters understand how to work together to make healthcare decisions. It focuses on people who use other ways to communicate besides speech.

Resource Summary

Content Summary: People are healthiest when they understand their health, help make decisions about their care, get support from trusted helpers, and have as much control as possible. Supported Healthcare Decision-Making lets people with disabilities choose who helps them and how. With this approach, the person with a disability makes their own choices, not someone else. Getting healthcare can be hard for everyone. It can be even harder for the five million Americans who don't use speech as their main way to talk. Many people feel better when they bring someone they trust to doctor visits. People with disabilities can choose helpers to go with them to appointments. If speech doesn't work well for someone, they can ask for help to use the type of communication that works best for them. Helpers can assist with sharing symptoms, asking questions, understanding choices, and telling the doctor what treatment the person wants. Helpers can also do things like make appointments, help with getting dressed, or picking up medicines. The person can sign an agreement that explains what kind of help they want. This helps everyone know what to do. The agreement can also say what to do if their helper can't be there. Sometimes people get too sick to make choices. When possible, it's best if they decide for themselves. But if they can't decide, even with help, they can pick someone to decide for them. This person is called a Power of Attorney. People can also write down what care they want if they get very sick or old. This is called an Advance Directive. Regional Centers or State Councils on Developmental Disabilities can help create these papers. Families often worry about what will happen when they can't help as much as before. Supported Healthcare Decision-Making creates a plan for getting help. When people know more about their health, they can make better choices. When they talk directly with their doctor, the doctor will understand them better. Each time they make their own decisions, they learn and get better at it. In California, everyone over 18 is legally able to make decisions unless a judge says otherwise. Even if someone needs help to communicate or has a disability, they still have the right to decide about their life. The guide explains how doctors, helpers, and people with disabilities can work together to make health care choices while respecting everyone's role.