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Thinking through the unthinkable
An advance directive, a health care directive or a living will: It’s known by many names and can save loved ones from difficult decisions at a traumatic time. Using guidelines established by the Honoring Choices Minnesota initiative, Clinic Care Manager Christine Larson, RN, MS, helps individuals with the important process of making decisions that will guide care in case of severe injury or illness.
When should you start advance health care planning?
The best time to start advance health care planning is before you need it. Christine points out: “By taking care of these decisions before it’s a crisis, you have time to talk to loved ones, a health care provider, or a religious leader, plus there’s time to think through who would be the best person to follow through on your wishes. The person you choose as your health care agent — the person who makes decisions in a difficult situation if you’re not able to — should understand your goals, values and beliefs.”
Honoring Choices Minnesota is a metro-wide initiative supported and initiated by the Twin Cities Medical Society in collaboration with many Twin Cities medical systems. One of the many goals of the project is to help ensure that patients’ wishes are followed, no matter what hospital or doctor a patient goes to. This is accomplished by creating standards to guide the creation of an advance directive.
How does a HealthEast facilitator help?
Christine is just one of a remarkably wide variety of facilitators through the HealthEast system, including chaplains, social workers, physicians, nurses and other disciplines. “We facilitate discussions about what experiences are most important to a person to live well, and what brings value to their life. Facilitators can help people integrate their personal values and cultural or religious beliefs into their advance directive.”
What do I do with my advance directive once I have one?
Christine recommends communicating your wishes and sharing your advance directive document with your health care agent, as well as providing a copy to your doctors’ offices and any hospital that you anticipate you might use in an emergency. Every five years or so, review your document, and make sure that your wishes remain the same, as well as confirming that your health care agent is still willing and able.
HealthEast has trained and certified facilitators providing free help with advance care planning; call
651-232-0064.
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