The end of life deserves as much beauty, care, and respect as the beginning.
At Barlowe & Associates we understand that making decisions about end-of-life care can be difficult and unnerving. We also know the value in positive outcomes by having these conversations.
We are here to help lead you through advance care planning. Together we can explore different scenarios so that you can make an informed decision for how you would like to be cared for at the end of your life. This will allow you to specify what you want or do not want — right to the end. We will guide you in having valuable conversations with your healthcare providers, legal counsel, loved ones.
What is advance care planning?
Advance care planning involves learning about the types of decisions that might need to be made, considering those decisions ahead of time, and then letting others know- both your loved ones and healthcare providers- about your preferences. It allows for making thought out choices now and putting them into a written advance directive as well as discussing those choices with others. It helps ensure that we get the care we want and to avoid what we do not want, even if we are unable to speak for ourselves.
Part of the process is an advance directive. An advance directive is a legal document that describes how you want medical decisions made if you cannot make the decisions yourself. It’s used if you become ill or injured and are unable to communicate your decisions and tells your health care team and loved ones what kind of care you want or who you want to make decisions for you. Advance directives typically consist of a living will, Healthcare Surrogate designation and power of attorney.
A healthcare surrogate is a person you name who carries out your wishes based on prior discussions during consultations and will make medical decisions for you if you are unable to verbalize your choices.
In our consultation, we carefully explore your values and wishes for care at end of life. You can then provide your attorney these wishes and choices so a legal document can be created.
Advance care planning services include:
- Exploration, discussion, and reflection. Determine your values and wishes for care at end-of-life as well as identifying your main concerns for end-of-life care.
- Education. Considering common types of decisions that might need to be made at the end-of-life and how your decisions can be implemented.
- Documentation. Your values, wishes, and preference to share with your medical providers, legal counsel, healthcare surrogate, and loved ones.
- Identification. Selecting a healthcare surrogate you can trust to implement your life care decisions
- Preparation. Leading you and your healthcare surrogate in discussion about your choices so they hear your values, may ask questions, and ensure they are comfortable with the role of healthcare surrogate.
- Conversation. Helping you by having valuable dialogues with your healthcare providers, legal counsel, and loved ones.
Advance care planning is important. We care and respect each of our clients to ensure their wishes are being heard.
We encourage clients to complete all advance care planning legal documents with their trusted legal counsel.