It is with an open heart and much gratitude that I partner with Leigh Ann Kingsbury to facilitate Using person-centered approaches to support healthcare decision making and planning for care at end of life.
Why such a downer topic you ask? Let me count the ways. In the coming weeks, I’ll post some things to think about, both the benefits and limitations of advance care planning with people with disabilities or life-limiting health conditions, with the hope that you might join a caring and supportive group for a deeper exploration of this topic.
Consideration #1: Advance care planning helps you to say the things that need saying.
It was a Monday like so many others for this 13-year-old. I moaned about having to wake up and get ready for school. While making toast in my pajamas, my mother walked in from outside. She had been where she had been almost every day for two years, at the hospital with my dad. Suddenly this Monday was different. She was quiet, wrapped me in her arms and said, “Dad died during the night.”
I didn’t go to school that day, filled with all the emotions, tears, and grief one might expect. What hurt the most was regretting I didn’t have a chance to say “goodbye” and to tell him I loved him, even though my mother said, “He knew.”
Every single time I think about that day forty-nine years ago, I wish it could have been different. I knew that my dad was critically ill, but I never thought he would leave this world with us having things we wanted to say, left unsaid.
Having conversations about things that matter, including care and support, when living with a significant health condition or when approaching the end of life is HARD!
In this program Leigh Ann and I will support people to use person centered approaches to gain confidence in having hard conversations about healthcare decision making and preferences for care at end of life. Part of that includes identifying the important people in your life and what needs to be said.
We invite you to join us to learn in a loving and supportive environment with other like-minded people. You can add your name to this interest list to be notified of the next training series.
Click here to join list
And in the meantime, go tell the people you love how much they mean to you.