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COVID-19 and Advance Care Planning

Advance Care Planning
Advance Care Planning and End of Life Planning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 = Special Urgency

What Special Urgency?

Isn’t it ironic that after 8 years of putting out my newsletter and talking to people about the importance of advance care planning, we are faced with a healthcare challenge of monumental proportion? One that emphasizes end of life plan reasons but, equally if not more importantly advance care planning, in many ways.

As I sit down to write my 100th newsletter, the current COVID-19 pandemic is sweeping the world and there is a special urgency to do advance care planning; by having the conversation, identifying someone to speak for you, and completing an advance directive.

Every day, there are new articles, by people who have never addressed the subject before, touting the importance of doing an advance directive and doing it NOW!

I receive calls from reporters asking for clarifications and quotes about how to make the process work. The momentum is building and hopefully people will take heed to the warning to have their conversations and complete their directives. This would be wonderful as it would be great to have something positive come out of this pandemic.

COVID-19 is a New Call to Action!

Your help is needed to continue to move the bar. If you’ve done your directive already, take a look at it and see if it is still current and meets your needs in this day and age. Update as necessary. Make certain the right people have a copy.

If you haven’t gotten there yet, now is a great time as the resources to plan a funeral, create a Last Will or Living Trust, and advance care planning, are available to make it easy for you to act.

If you still need help, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. My contact information is below. Talk to your friends and loved ones. You know, those people whom you have mentioned it to before but who haven’t moved forward to do their plan.

Bug them, emphasize its importance. Remind them of the adage:

Failing to Plan – Is Planning to Fail!

They need this for themselves as well as their families. Equally as important, are the healthcare workers who are doing such a Herculean effort during these trying times. Make sure that they have access to people’s advance directives. This will allow them to be guided by the goals and preferences of their patients and not guessing what the best treatment course for a particular individual might be.

I have neighbors who have been very clear as to their plans. They are sheltering in place because of their ages and their medical conditions. They have made it very clear that they will not go to the hospital if they should come down with the COVID-19 virus. They feel strongly that they are at that point in their lives that they do not wish to go on the ventilator or receive aggressive care during their end of life stages. If they can survive the virus from home, great. If not, it was meant to be.

Now, let me be clear, I am not suggesting that other people should take this stance. We all need and deserve to make our own decisions whatever may be best for each of us individually. Thus, the advance directive is a critically necessary important part of your end of life planning and funeral estate planning!! Remember, it is still critically important to:

Have “The Conversation” … and … Give ‘The Gift

Courtesy of M. Jane Markley, www.mjmarkley.com.
If you have any questions, you can contact her directly at jane@mjmarkley.com.

Death and Taxes

Death and Taxes are Certain

Most of us have heard the old adage; “the two certainties in life are death and taxes“.  As a result of this statement, National Healthcare Decisions Day comes every year on April 16th, the day after taxes.  The goal is to attempt to bring these two matters together.

Jane Markley tells her clients; “Most of us dutifully complete our taxes every year.  So why not also make time to review your end of life plans and advance directives as well?”  Truth be told, completing your plans for death requires much less time and effort than completing your taxes.  Furthermore, completing your death matters only needs to be done once, whereas taxes must be completed each and every year.

It’s NEVER Too Soon

For those of you who haven’t had “the end of life conversation”, and/or documented your healthcare wishes and other final plans and preferences, please remember this all-important statement:  It’s only too soon…until it is too late.”

Knowing you love your family and loved ones, ask yourself this question;  “What is holding you up from completing key matters such as your end of life planning, funeral estate planning, last will, power of attorney, and advance directives?”

Plan NOW!  We Can Help

When it comes to death and taxes, it is very easy to find reasons to procrastinate and postpone these matters.  However, please let us help you preplan and “give the gift of love” to your family and friends.

Don’t wait for the crisis.  Don’t wait until it’s too late.  Don’t leave your loves ones in a difficult situation.  Don’t wait until it’s to late to learn how to prepay funeral expenses.  Let us help you make this difficult situation a little easier.  Let us help you have “the conversation” now, plan and prepare in advance today!

Your First Step is EASY

A great way to start is to click here and access our free Family Record Guide.  You won’t regret it, your loved ones will thank you, and you will leave a legacy of love!

Advance Directive

Your Advance Directive Always Seems Too Early…
Until It’s Too Late!

This is the theme for  the 2016 National Healthcare Decisions Day’s (NHDD), and will be the “catch phrase” for all the NHDD activities on and around April 16th. It was developed and suggested by one of our newsletter readers, Kathy Saldana of MidMichigan Health. It is an extremely appropriate statement.

Not Now?

I hear it all the time. I’m too young, not sick enough, not old enough or I hear that people will get to it when they really need it, e.g. not now. And what happens is that their advance directive is not in place when the need arises. If a person can no longer speak for themselves or communicate their wishes, you have missed the window of opportunity. I am always hopeful that they have at least had “the conversation” with loved ones but frequently that is not the case.

Afraid of Death?

Why do we continually deal with this issue like ostriches with our heads in the sand? Most often, it is because we are afraid: afraid of death, afraid that if we put it in writing it will happen, afraid that death will happen too soon and we won’t be ready.

I do appreciate that reluctance. My husband and I went through the drill of updating our legal trust this past year. Like you and advance care planning, I knew it needed to be done as we had put it off far too long and I knew how important it was to complete. But, the process dragged on because it was easier to deal with the activities of the day than to deal with the potentiality of the future. Yet, what a mess it would have been if something had happened to us and we did not have it inked and in place.

Why Hurt Those You Love Most?

It would have been problematic for those people whom we love most: our executor and our heirs. We had to continually remind ourselves that we weren’t doing this for us but for them. That is what needs to be done with advance care planning. Remember the positive impact having a plan in place will have for both you but particularly for those you love who will be left behind.

It’s NEVER Too Early

It is never too early once you have reached majority at 18. Everyone should take the time to speak with their loved ones and share their beliefs, preferences, and values. Everyone should explain what they mean by “heroic measures” or “futile treatments”. Being specific is much more helpful than using platitudes for which there are many definitions.

Don’t Wait…Act Now

Don’t wait for the crisis. Go to the NHDD web page and download their materials so you can help yourself and others.

Contributing author:  mjmarkley.com

By |March 12th, 2016|Categories: Advance Care Planning, Advance Directive, Advance Directives, Death, NHDD|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on Advance Directive

Five Steps to Advance Care Planning

Advance Care Planning

Five Steps to Advance Care Planning

 

Doing advance care planning “gives you a say, to the end of your day” and is something everyone should do to take control of their life, their future life, and their end of life.

Advance care planning is not unique to America; it is something that is important for any adult no matter where in the world you may live.

Canada’s Speak Up Campaign provides an excellent framework for anyone to use. 

Five Steps to Advance Care Planning:

 

1.  Think about what is important to you
2.  Learn about different medical procedures and what they can and can’t do for you
3.  Choose or decide on your substitute decision maker
4.  Talk about your wishes
5.  Record your wishes formally with an advance directive

Click Here to Access our FREE End Of Life Planning Guides

 

To learn more about Advance Care Planning, please click here to see our Preferred Provider, M. Jane Markley Consulting, LLC.

By |February 19th, 2015|Categories: Advance Care Planning, Advance Directive, Advance Directives, Death, end of life|Comments Off on Five Steps to Advance Care Planning

Are Your End-Of-Life Care Wishes Clear

End-of-Life Care

Are Your End-of-Life Care Wishes Clear?

As acceptance of end-of-life planning grows in the U.S., new concerns are emerging about how well patients and their doctors understand the forms they are signing about the care they want in their final days.

In September, the Institute of Medicine’s “Dying in America” report called for a national effort to improve medical and social services for end-of-life care, both to improve quality of life and to help reduce the outsize costs of unwanted care at the end of life.

Some health plans are reimbursing doctors who help with advance care planning, and the federal government is weighing doing the same for doctors who talk to Medicare patients about options. A growing number of states are starting programs known as Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment, or Polst, a form offered to patients who might die within a year so they can document their wishes in a medical record, signed by the doctor.

Read more of Laura Landro‘s article in the Wall Street Journal by clicking here.

By |December 14th, 2014|Categories: Advance Care Planning, Advance Directive, Advance Directives, end of life, end-of-life planning, End-of-Life-Care|Tags: , , , , , |Comments Off on Are Your End-Of-Life Care Wishes Clear