April 16, 2021 is National Advance Care Planning Day across Canada and we ask you to join us from 8:00pm to 9:00pm to reflect on your values, wishes and beliefs for your future care in the event that you can no longer speak for yourself.
All too often, a family member will arrive at a hospital intensive care unit following a call that their parent, spouse, sibling or child has been brought in by ambulance. The doctor states, “It doesn’t look good”, and asks the family member, “What would you like us to do for your loved one?” The family is in shock and wondering why they had not talked about, or planned for, end-of-life care wishes. Often, the answer is they feared talking about illness and death and hoped by not talking about it they would never have to deal with it.
Advance Care Planning, or ACP, is a simple three-step process THINK, TALK, and PLAN.
- THINK: About your values, beliefs and wishes then decide what matters most.
- TALK: With people you trust and appoint a Substitute Decision Maker.
- PLAN: Prepare and continually share your Advance Care Plan with those who matter most to you.
On April 16th, we urge British Columbians and Yukoners to begin the conversation on Advance Care Planning. Hospice Palliative Care Societies in BC and the Yukon specialize in Advance Care Planning are able to provide you, your family, friends and co-workers with guided information to help with these sometimes difficult conversations. Please contact your community Hospice Palliative Care Society Information and resources can also be found on our BCHPCA website.
Let’s begin to Think, Talk and Plan our Advance Care Plans today!
