Using the BRAIN Acronym

An easy-to-remember discussion tool is the BRAIN acronym. Use the letters of this word to help you in advance care planning situations as you are preparing for health care conversations with health providers about life-impacting decisions.

Benefits

What are the benefits of this procedure/treatment? 

Risks

What are the risks of this procedure? How might this negatively affect me/my family/my friends?

Alternatives

Are there alternatives to this procedure/treatment? Are there other options?

Intuition

What is my gut feeling about this?

Need Time or Nothing

Can I delay this procedure and take some time to think about it? Discuss it with my family? What will happen if I choose to do nothing for now?