By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    healthcare cybersecurity
    4 Helpful Tips on How to Protect Your Medical Practice Against Cyber Attacks
    October 24, 2021
    Health Check Diagnosis Medical Condition Analysis Concept
    6 Health Woes With Online Remedies
    January 19, 2022
    Eight Things Men Should Know About the Male Menopause
    Eight Things Men Should Know About the Male Menopause
    April 24, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Depression and Diabetes Linked
    June 23, 2011
    Positive Health and the Heart
    July 28, 2011
    The Top Ten Myths about Heart Disease
    August 30, 2011
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Advanced Care Planning: What to Do Now
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Medical Education > Advanced Care Planning: What to Do Now
Medical EducationPublic Health

Advanced Care Planning: What to Do Now

joan justice
joan justice
Share
6 Min Read
Chicago Patient Forum
SHARE

(Originally published on Patient Empowerment Network)

If you are an adult, you need to think about your future and your wishes and desires in terms of your health care. And you need to discuss these wishes and desires with those close to you. It is only by doing this that you can ensure that your choices will be heard. This is important! And often overlooked, neglected, procrastinated, or ignored…for many reasons. 

(Originally published on Patient Empowerment Network)

If you are an adult, you need to think about your future and your wishes and desires in terms of your health care. And you need to discuss these wishes and desires with those close to you. It is only by doing this that you can ensure that your choices will be heard. This is important! And often overlooked, neglected, procrastinated, or ignored…for many reasons. 

More Read

Alzheimers Onset Less in Bilingual
Daniel Kraft: Health Media for the Future
Antibiotics’ Scary Future
Do We Need New Vital Signs for Health?
Here’s Why Primary Care Is the Future of Public Health

Chicago Patient ForumIt is sometimes a difficult conversation to start, but those around you and close to you need to hear you. Start by thinking about quality of life, choices, and what is important to YOU. Think about who you can trust to listen to you and carry out your wishes if you are no longer capable of doing so.

If you are a cancer patient, think about what treatment options are available to you, what makes sense to you and what doesn’t. Do your research, talk to your provider or medical team and talk to those close to you. Then think about those discussions and what is important to you.

This is ultimately an individual and very personal decision. However, family members need to hear and respect your viewpoint, so include them in the conversation early on.

So many times, it happens that when a patient is unconscious or incapacitated in some way, family members get together and try to make decisions. Often, the family members cannot agree on what the patient would have wanted and their opinions and emotions cause conflict, anger and heartbreak. And then, since the patient never made her wishes clear, they are not carried out.

You can avoid this.

Take action now and start the conversation.

Once you have discussed your wishes with family members and loved ones, it is important to fill out the correct Chicago Patient Forumpaperwork. Medical directives are legal documents that will state your wishes and help to see that they are followed. But do not rely on medical directives alone. Be sure to talk to family members or others close to you.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, large national studies showed that although more patients are completing medical directives, these directives are not always available to hospital staff when they need to be. Patients often keep them filed at home and they do not find their way into patient medical records or into the hands of those caring for the patient in an emergency situation. Be sure and make your wishes know to those closest to you and give them a copy of your directives.

Advance Care Planning is also a process. You can change your mind and may do that as time progresses. Be sure and update family members as your wishes change.

You do not have to do this alone. There are numerous avenues of help.

Resources

There are many resources that help with Advanced Care Planning. One good website is The Conversation Project.

Here, you can find information, a “starter kit” to help you get your thoughts together and start the conversation with your loved ones. This kit is available in Spanish, French and Mandarin as well as English.

There is also a PDF on how to have the conversation with your doctor, in Spanish and French as well as English. The website has a blog with patient stories and stories from staff members and advisors.

MD Anderson has an entire web page dedicated to Advance Care Planning . Specifically for cancer patients, this page was developed by an interdisciplinary team of doctors, patients, social workers, health educators and other health care professionals.

On this page, you will find step by step guidelines on how to start discussions with family members, talk with your provider, assign a family member to be your spokesperson and how to complete the legal paperwork necessary. PDFs are available in English and Spanish.

There is also a 5 part video series explaining the process of Advance Care Planning in depth with patient viewpoints and advice on how to make the decisions and discussions go as easily as possible.

The MD Anderson web page also includes information on Advance Medical Directive documents such as Living Wills, Power of Attorney and Out of Hospital DNRs (Do Not Resuscitate) with links to the legal documents and instructions and advice on filling them out.

This page is an excellent resource and also includes a number to call for further questions.

Don’t hesitate. Start the conversation now.

TAGGED:advanced care planning
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025
engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

med school graduates
BusinessMedical Education

4 Barriers to Private Practice for Med School Graduates

February 6, 2015

Government Using Social Media to Track Health Behaviors

November 24, 2013
lyme disease vaccine
Public Health

Lyme Disease Vaccine: Cautionary Tale or Opportunity for Renewed Activism?

October 4, 2013
Public Health

Is Treatment for Hepatitis C Hype or Hope? Big Win for Big Pharm

March 12, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?