Comox Glacier - Photo by Garth Wedmire

Check out this comprehensive website to help you develop your personal, British Columbia Advance Care Plan.

My Directives App

While this app is not particular to British Columbia, it does allow the writer to capture pertinent details about their wishes for future health care. Because it's the conversation, not the document, that is crucial, I think that no matter what jurisdiction I might find myself in, the information I have provided for my healthcare agent(s) in this app will be really helpful when they have to make decisions on my behalf.
I found the process of making an advance directive using this app to be very easy. I think it's particularly useful for travelling.

Decision Making and Critical Illness

Sunset in Windhoek, Namibia

Two helpful tools to walk individuals through the complexities of making decisions about cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and life support.
The CPR Video decision aid describes what is involved in CPR and the life support decision aid  prepares individuals to consider care options for themselves or family members in the case of critical illness - Decide Together.
These resources were developed under the leadership of Jennifer Kryworuchko, an assistant professor at the UBC School of Nursing.

Dr. Duncan Sinclair - Putting the Responsibility Where it Belongs

Listen to Dr. Duncan Sinclair, former Queen's University Dean of Medicine as he describes what frail health means to him and the steps he is taking to both delay the onset of frailty and to ensure his end-of-life care decisions are closely followed.
Dr. Sinclair, by writing and disseminating an advance directive detailing his goals and values, is determined to put the responsibility for end-of-life decision-making where it belongs - on his own shoulders.

Eight Minutes that Could Change Your Life

Conversations yield end-of-life benefits.
Click on this link to view video.

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?

National Advance Care Planning Day - April 16, 2015
Check out this advance care planning clip.

How Doctors Die

This an excellent article on How Doctors Die. Take 5 minutes to read and reflect on it.
It certainly informs the decisions I have made about the medical interventions I want at the end of my life.

Getting the Conversation Started

The Conversation Project has put together a downloadable form to help you start thinking about and discussing your future.

"The Conversation Project is dedicated to helping people talk about their wishes for end-of-life care.
Too many people are dying in a way they wouldn’t choose, and too many of their loved ones are left feeling bereaved, guilty, and uncertain.
It’s time to transform our culture so we shift from not talking about dying to talking about it. It’s time to share the way we want to live at the end of our lives. And it’s time to communicate about the kind of care we want and don’t want for ourselves.
We believe that the place for this to begin is at the kitchen table—not in the intensive care unit—with the people we love, before it’s too late.
Together we can make these difficult conversations easier. We can make sure that our own wishes and those of our loved ones are expressed and respected.If you’re ready to join us, we ask you: Have you had the conversation?"

Heather Reflects on her Recent ACP Conversation

Heather and Sue Reflect on their Recent ACP Conversation

A few days after an ACP conversation with her substitute decision-maker, Pat - Heather talks with Sue about the importance of that conversation.

The Importance of Communicating Your Wishes to Your Substitute Decision-Maker

Reflecting on The Role of the Substitute Decision-Maker

Pat reflects on a recent ACP conversation and the impact it had on her role as a substitute decision-maker for Heather.

The ACCEPT Initiative - Leading the Way in ACP Research

I think this is a worthwhile study - one that will make a difference in how healthcare professionals initiate ACP conversations with patients and families, as well as how our healthcare wishes/decisions are honoured.
The ACCEPT Initiative is a multi-year, multi-centre, prospective audit of current practice related to advance care planning (ACP) in patients who are at high-risk for dying, as well as their families.
"We will determine the extent to which these patients and families have engaged in ACP, what barriers and facilitators they perceive, and how satisfied they are with communication and decision making at the EOL. Additionally, for those patients who have engaged in ACP activities, we can compare their outcomes to those who have not. In the Fall of 2011, we enrolled over 500 hospitalized elderly patients and/or their families from 12 acute care institutions in Canada."

Re-posting My Chat with Dave

My chat with Dave.

WIHI: Have You Had "The Conversation"? Helping Loved Ones Discuss End-of-Life Preferences

This is a great listen - "The Conversation Project."

WIHI: Have You Had "The Conversation"? Helping Loved Ones Discuss End-of-Life Preferences

International ACP Conference in Chicago

It's not too late to register!
This will be my 3rd international conference - I expect great things.

http://acpelsociety.com/conference/

National Ipsos-Reid poll indicates majority of Canadians haven’t talked about their wishes for care

Wow! We need to get talking!
http://www.advancecareplanning.ca/news-room/national-ipsos-reid-poll-indicates-majority-of-canadians-haven%E2%80%99t-talked-about-their-wishes-for-care.aspx

Watch this Video - It will inspire you to TALK!

We can’t control if we’ll die, but we can “occupy death,” in the words of Dr. Peter Saul. In this TED Talks video he calls on us to make clear our preferences for end of life care -- and suggests two questions for starting the conversation.


Over the past 35 years Peter Saul has been intimately involved in the dying process for over 4,000 patients. He is passionate about improving the ways we die.


Dr. Peter Saul is a Senior Intensive Care specialist in the adult and paediatric ICU at John Hunter Hospital, and Director of Intensive Care at Newcastle Private Hospital in Australia.  After spending time as the Head of Discipline for Medical Ethics at Newcastle University, he is now a leading adviser to the State and Federal health departments.

http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_saul_let_s_talk_about_dying.html

BC Creates Advance Care Planning Guide

I would be interested in your feedback on this new document for Advance Care Planning in BC.

Canada's Health Care System Gets Low Grade from Sicker Canadians

It seems that the sicker you are, the more inclined you are to give Canada's health care system a a failing grade. Read more in this report from the Health Council of Canada.

Alberta and Personal Health Directives

For my Alberta friends - here is a link to a sample "Personal Health Directive," along with instructions on how to use the form.
Check out an array of Advance Care Planning Resources for Alberta here.