National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) is an annual initiative recognized on April 16 to encourage and empower people to begin conversations about their wishes for care through the end of life.

NHDD is both for individuals and community leaders. It is about normalizing discussions about this topic each year and recognizing that wishes or the people in our lives may change. Set a date to have a conversation with someone important in your life about your, or their, wishes. We don’t have to wait until we’re sick to have these conversations.

The Conversation Project, an initiative of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, offers free resources to help facilitate these conversations or share information in your community.