The barriers to effective advance care planning are numerous. It is imperative that we, as patients, health care providers and members of society, overcome these barriers and remain active in pursuing our personal values and goals.

National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) falls conveniently every April 16 so you can deal with the difficult matters of death and taxes all in one week. NHDD is one day when we're asked to put our own discomfort aside and think about the loved ones we leave behind.

There's something about assisted dying that still makes a lot of people squirm. With Dr. Kevorkian's death, I think it's time for us to take that bogeyman out of the closet.

On the 15th you fill out your 1040 Form for your Uncle Sam, and the next day you fill out an advance care directive to make the future easier for the rest of your family.

For heaven's sake (if you believe in heaven, and even if you don't), do talk to your loved ones about dying. Whisper about it if you have to. It can't hear you. Need help? Here are three easy steps to get you started.

A person's last days may still be off in the distant horizon, but the yearning for a death that honors the life and the determination to remain a free person is palpable when thoughts turn to life's end.

We need to separate the idea of advance care planning -- which is all about our own choice -- from the horned devil known as government-rationed care -- which is about someone else's choice for us.