Transcript PowerPoint - Caring Connections

#Speak4me
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Who Will Speak4me?
www.CaringInfo.org/Speak4me
Why is it Important to Name
Someone to Speak4me?
• If you are unable to express your
healthcare decisions
• This can happen to anyone - at any
age
– If you:
• Are in an accident
• Have surgery
• Or are suddenly ill
What is a Healthcare Agent?
• The person you pick to make decisions
about medical care
• The person is authorized to speak for
you ONLY if you are unable to make
your own medical decisions
But I Don’t Even Know What
Decisions I Would Make
• Focus on how you’d want the decisions to
be made
• Some considerations:
– Likelihood of recovery to full or partial
functioning
– Whether or not you’d want to be
incapacitated for a “long time”
– Religious beliefs
– The risks of treatments
– Your overall health at the time the
decisions are being made
Four Quick Tips to Speak4me
1. Select a person (and a backup) to
be your healthcare agent
2. Talk to your agent and others
about your wishes
3. Complete your healthcare agent
document
4. Give signed copies to your
agent(s), family, doctors, etc.
1. Select a Person to Be Your
Healthcare Agent
• Someone who…
– Knows you well
– Is calm in a crisis
– Is not afraid to ask questions and
advocate to doctors
– Can reassure and communicate with
your family
– Understands how you would make the
decisions if you were able
2. Talk to Your Agent and Others
About Your Wishes
• Explain what you are asking
– Someone who can Speak4me in a healthcare
crisis, know my wishes and advocate for
them, communicate with family
• Talk about why you picked them
– Share common beliefs/values, knows you
well, believe they can do it
• Ask if they would be willing and able to
make the decisions
– Based on HOW YOU would want them made
But What Should I Say?
• Tell them you have a favor that you
hope you’ll never need them to do
• Explain what you are asking – what a
healthcare agent does
• Find out if they have ever thought
about care decisions at the end of life
• Explain how you’d want the decisions
to be made
When Should I Say it?
• Find a quiet time and place
• Opportunities to begin a conversation:
– At family gatherings such as holidays, funerals,
or simply around the dinner table
– After a relevant newspaper or magazine article
– Around a movie, book or TV show theme
– Sermons
– During financial planning or a medical checkup
• Conversations about end of life should be
ongoing and not a one time event!
3. Complete Your Healthcare Agent
Document
• Complete the legal Medical Power of
Attorney form (also called):
– “health care proxy or agent”
– “health care surrogate”
– “durable power of attorney for
health care”
• www.CaringInfo.org/AdvanceDirectives
Make Sure Your Document is
Legally Valid in Your State
• Download the document for your
state and follow the instructions
• You can complete both the living will
and healthcare agent parts of the
document—or simply name your
healthcare agent
4. Give Signed Copies to Your
Agent(s), Family, etc
• Give one to your healthcare agent,
backup agent, family, roommates,
friends, neighbors, doctor, etc
• Ask them to review it with you and be
prepared to answer any questions they
may have
• If someone asks “why didn’t you pick
me?” explain your process
www.caringinfo.org
800.658.8898
FREE Resources Available
from Caring Connections
• State-specific advance directives
• www.CaringInfo.org/Speak4me
• Brochures:
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Conversations Before the Crisis
Ask Tough Questions
End-of-Life Decisions
Communicating End-of-Life Wishes
You Have Filled Out Your Advance Directive…
Now What?