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Policy Proposal Brochure

Policy Proposal Brochure. Created By: Katie Arrison , Angela Hackney, Chari McQueen, Anthony Roller, and Eve Sierra. Significant Others Should be Allowed to Make Executive Decisions Regarding their Partners Health.

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Policy Proposal Brochure

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  1. Policy Proposal Brochure Created By: Katie Arrison, Angela Hackney, Chari McQueen, Anthony Roller, and Eve Sierra

  2. Significant Others Should be Allowed to Make Executive Decisions Regarding their Partners Health EXECUTIVE DECISION – The most monumental in scope of difficult decisions due to their life and death importance ( which can affect dozens, thousands or millions or people for good or bad)(Urban definition,2009).

  3. Advance Healthcare Directives • Advance healthcare directives are legal documents that allow an individual to control the course of their medical treatment in the event of mental incapacity. • Durable powers of medical attorney, healthcare proxies and living wills are common examples of directives. Individuals express their healthcare wishes in these documents and designate surrogates who may make medical decisions on their behalf. • However, due to the lack of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender relationship recognition laws in most states, and because most default medical decision-making law triggered by mental incapacity remains non-LGBT inclusive.

  4. Unfortunately, numerous LGBT individuals come forward with tragic stories of hospitals failing to recognize these directives between same-sex couples at critical moments of emergency and end-of-life medical treatment. This indicates a breakdown in the implementation and enforcement of compliance policies due to inadequate staff training or insufficient policy language.

  5. Florida Law • A same-sex partner may make health care decisions for an incapacitated partner as a “close friend”. However their authority to do so is only considered after contact has been attempted with several others (spouse, adult children, parents, siblings, etc.). § 765.401. An adult may execute an advance directive designating who should have the authority to make medical decisions in the event they become incapacitated. The directive must be a written document signed by the principal in the presence of two subscribing adult witnesses. § 765.202

  6. State issues marriage licenses to same-sex couples (5 states). • Connecticut (2008) • Iowa (2009) • Massachusetts (2004) • New Hampshire (effective 1/1/2010) • Vermont (2009) (H.R.C. , 2009)

  7. Proposal: To allow long-term significant others (regardless of sex) to make medical decisions for an incapacitated partner, to allow hospital visitations, and to allow notification of the partner’s medical condition. • U.S. Census Bureau reported that there are nearly 770,000 same sex couples across the country, in communities large and small. • The state of Florida has over 420,000 unmarried partner households which make up 2.4% of total households

  8. Visitation • Visitation by family and friends is important to patient’s healing process. • However, visitation access is often determined by a facility’s definition of family. Same sex partners and same-sex patients are not always recognized as family due to the inadequate visitation policies and staff training(Healthcare Equality Index ,2009).

  9. Many couples find that their relationships may be recognized in one city but will not be recognized if they move to another location. This is why Florida needs to have consistent statewide policies and rights. Domestic partners should not be penalized because the gov’t does not acknowledge their relationships. The denial of these rights to an unmarried couple should be considered unethical and discriminatory based on religious and cultural beliefs.

  10. References Urban Dictionary (2009) Executive Decision . Retrieved on Nov 4, 2009 from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=executive%20decision Healthcare Advance Directives: Absence of Advance Directive: Fla. Stat. Ann. § 765.401 and Florida Health Care Surrogate Act: Fla. Stat. Ann. §§ 765.202 to 765.205 Healthcare Equality Index(2009) Healthcare Equality Index: Creating a National Standard for Equal Treatment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Patients and Their Families, Retrieved on Nov 11, 2009 from http://www.hrc.org/documents/Healthcare_Equality_Index_2009.pdf Human Rights Campaign (2009) Marriage Equality and other Recognition Laws . Retrieved on Nov 10, 2009 from http://www.hrc.org/documents/Relationship_Recognition_Laws_Map.pdf

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