What is “Advance Care Planning”?
Advance care planning is an ongoing process that includes:
- Thinking about the health care treatments and other support we would like to receive if we were seriously ill or injured, had a terminal disease or were dying — what are our deepest needs and concerns?
- Ongoing conversations with our loved ones, our health care providers, our faith leaders and our caretakers to discuss these issues
- Choosing a health care agent to speak for us when we can no longer speak for ourselves — and ongoing conversations with our health care agent
- Completing or updating a health care directive and taking other steps to ensure that our wishes are followed to the extent possible
Download Handouts from Gloria Dei’s Advance Planning Workshops:
Links to Resources for starting the conversation with health care agents, family and loved ones:
- Communication Kit (used during the Gloria Dei Advance Planning Workshops)
- Honoring Choices Minnesota has developed a rich website full of videos and other resources to help you start difficult conversations with family, loved ones and care providers about your end-of-life choices and concerns. Be sure to click on “Video Stories” at the top of the home page to see real people discuss how they handled situations that may be like those you are facing. Honoring Choices Minnesota is an initiative of the Twin Cities Medical Society.
Links to Health Care Directive Forms:
- Download Word or PDF versions of the Honoring Choices Minnesota Health Care Directive Forms. Honoring Choices Minnesota is an initiative of the Twin Cities Medical Society.
Link to Form and Information About POLSTs (Minnesota Provider’s Orders For Life Sustaining Treatment)
- Learn more about the Minnesota Provider’s Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form, including form to download and FAQs