Let’s talk about it!

By Dr. E. Faye Williams
TriceEdneyWire.com Columnist

There are many things in life to think about daily, but there’s one we often don’t think of that’s really important. It’s selfish not to think about it just leaving the details of what we want our families or friends to do for us when it comes to our end-of-life decisions and we become unable to make those choices. I know we don’t like to talk about it, but we should recognize we sometimes get to a point where we’re unable to make choices. Someone has to make them for us.

April is National Minority Health Month. It’s a time when we try to bring awareness about health disparities that persist among racial and ethnic minorities. Every group of people may experience health challenges; however, I don’t think any community experiences more than the African-American community. Much of it has something to do with the lack of healthcare or a poor quality of health in our community. Even if we’re not personally impacted, our community has many challenges and we should listen to how we improve our healthcare.

Let’s not wait every year until April that’s set aside as National Minority Health Month. Let’s bring awareness about disparities that persist in our community all the time.

National Healthcare Decisions Day occurs every April 16th and has recently passed. It’s not the most pleasant day to think about for some, but I often tell people it’s necessary to talk about our end-of-life choices, and that talking about them don’t kill us! It makes a lot of sense to educate and empower ourselves about the importance of advance care planning.

Compassion & Choices is a group I met a few years ago and one of the things I learned from the group is the importance of advance care planning. This year the group stopped by the Black Barbers Doc to discuss the importance of advance care planning! Director of Priority Populations and Faith Engagement Zeena Regis and African American Engagement Director Dr. Elisha Hall shared their thoughts on equitable end-of-life care in the “Fades, Fish Fries and Funerals” podcast available now for NationalHealthcareDecisionsDay. I know Grandma doesn’t know anything about all this fancy technology, but if she’s your Grandma, help her to see the film or look at it and explain it to her.

This is the first of four in a series called “Let’s Talk About It” where they outline the significance of advance care planning in Black communities and explain why it’s so important to make plans for our assets and health. With the month of April being Minority Monthly Health observance, these resources are especially significant as we highlight the health disparities that persist in our community. Starkfilms is a group to be thanked for producing this episode. You’ll be able to find it and more on Spotify, and if you’re like me, not knowing much about these things, ask your grandchildren to help you get to the site to see it at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/steven-starks0.

I offer this information as an opportunity to get people to commit to taking one action that saves families and friends a lot of trouble! This can be creating a will, setting up an estate plan, naming a Healthcare Power of Attorney, etc. It’s important to make these decisions before it’s too late. Are you planning for a peaceful end of your life? Are you ready to live knowing you have a plan for what you want friends or families to do for you what you’re no longer able to do? My family and I went through celebrating the life of our Mom, so I know the value of Advance Care Planning and if you’ve not made such plans, visit https://www.compassionandchoices.org/end-of-life-planning/learn/finish-strong-tools to Finish Strong on CompassionandChoices.org website for free information on the subject.

Dr. E. Faye Williams, President of the Dick Gregory Society.

This article originally published in the April 29, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.