Health Council of South Florida

Advance Care Planning is making DECISIONS about the healthcare you would want to receive if you happen to become unable to speak for yourself.

 

Quality of Life: Advance Care Planning EASES the stress and burden on the individual’s family or loved ones and ensures people have a good life until the very end.

 

Economic Impact: Advance Care Planning REDUCES cost of care, hospital patient days, and hospital admissions from a nursing home.

 

The growing older population in the United States, one with more complex and more chronically debilitating diseases than any other generation before it, has brought the need to implement services and programs that serve this growing segment of the population. People living with more than one chronic disease often experience a diminished quality of life, and it is estimated that nearly 2 out of every 3 Americans are living with multiple chronic conditions. In Miami-Dade County (MDC), a metropolitan area with over 2.7 million residents, it is projected that there will be a 38.1% increase in residents age 65 and older from 2020 to 2030. Furthermore, older adults will comprise 34.1% of the entire population of MDC, compared to the current estimate of 16.2%. In the City of Hialeah about 24% of residents fall into the 65 and older age category. There is a larger percentage of older adults in Hialeah (23.6%) than MDC (16.2%). As more residents begin to age in place and are faced with declining health, the need to discuss end-of-life care as a public health issue becomes more important.

 

Source: US Census five-year estimates 2014-2018