End-of-life planning is a crucial way to think about the future. But, how do you talk to aging parents about this? How do you get them to plan?
Advance Care Planning Coaching
Advance care planning coaching offers a chance to consider practical concerns, values, beliefs, and wishes concerning end-of-life. It can be a surprisingly empowering and transformative journey, one that may reduce fear around death, while also addressing important topics that can be avoided for far too long.
Such coaching also helps to align family members, ensuring that your wishes are well-understood and clearly put in place. While often associated with seniors or those with a terminal diagnosis, advance care planning can be enriching for individuals at any stage of life. The increased comfort around the topic of death and improvements to your sense of purpose as particularly powerful for those with no terminal diagnosis.
Angelica uses the Five Wishes framework to guide conversations about advance care planning. This framework includes easy-to-follow end-of-life documentation that does not require a lawyer in many states, including Arizona. Angelica can also provide support with other types of advance planning documents and answer your questions along the way.
Advance Care Planning Workshops
Planning for the end of life is a sensitive topic that many people avoid. However, such conversations are critical, which is why we offer compassionate end-of-life planning services to guide individuals and families through the process.
As a Five Wishes Facilitator, Angelica will help your organization empower individuals to take control of their end-of-life journey. Our Advanced Care Planning workshop provides your community with invaluable resources and support.
Workshops can be delivered in senior centers, libraries, healthcare organizations, community or faith-based organizations, and other locations. They’re ideal for seniors, caregivers, families, employees, and anyone interested in preparing for end-of-life. You’re never too young to get started! Get peace of mind and see how empowering end-of-life planning can be.
We make the class engaging, interactive with games, and provide all the materials. Participants can ask questions as they work through the document, ensuring they fully understand the Five Wishes document and its implications, along with the implications of advance planning in general. The typical workshop length can run from one and a half to two hours.
Key areas covered include:
- Information about the different sections of the Five Wishes document, including the importance of these sections and how to fill them out
- A step-by-step walkthrough of the document
- Legal and validity considerations for Five Wishes paperwork
- Communication strategies for talking about end-of-life wishes with friends and family
- Common questions and concerns
FEES:
- Senior Centers: FREE
- Other Non-profits: $333 per workshop
- Healthcare organizations: Training for healthcare providers and/or patients $450 per training session
- Financial institutions: $450 per workshop
Angelica provides unbiased guidance and training and is an independent instructor. She does not endorse any insurance company or broker, nor does she sell anything to attendees. The booking fee covers the instructor’s time and materials.
What Is Five Wishes?
Five Wishes is the only national advanced care planning program. It relies on a single document that covers spiritual, medical, legal, and personal wishes, with all sections written in easy-to-understand language. The language and style of the document empower people to consider and make decisions about what they want and don’t want at the end of their life.
The Five Wishes paperwork is now available in 30 languages, with digital and physical versions. It is also legally valid in every state except Texas, Ohio, Kansas, and New Hampshire (here some additional paperwork may be needed, but the Five Wishes approach is still helpful).
As the name suggests, Five Wishes covers five key areas:
- The medical treatment you want and don’t want
- The person who will make decisions if you can’t
- Wishes surrounding comfort care
- Spiritual values and beliefs
- Wishes for end-of-life care
About the Instructor
Angelica Herrera-Venson, DrPH
Angelica Herrera-Venson (DrPH, MPH) is a Gerontologist and a trained Five Wishes facilitator with a long history in public health research and education. Not only was her Doctor of Public Health degree in health education, but she is a former Assistant Professor in higher education and has worked as a community health educator.
Angelica has a strong passion for helping people age with dignity and addressing the needs of all diverse communities. Coupled with her end-of-life doula training, Five Wishes education, and Dementia Care Practitioner certification, she has the in-depth knowledge to support families in the end-of-life planning process and all the complexities that go along with it.
To learn more about Angelica, visit the About Us page.
The Benefits of Advance Care Planning
Advance Care Planning allows people to think and talk about the end of their life, including what they would like and what they wouldn’t. Approaches like Five Wishes ensure that these end-of-life wishes are recorded in a legal form, so that they can be honored even if the individual is no longer capable of making decisions for themselves.
There are many advantages to doing so, including the following.
You Can Be Highly Specific
Advance Care Planning documents also allow you to be highly specific about your wishes. This is powerful, as many concepts have different meanings to different people. Being clear and specific ensures that everyone is on the same page about your needs, leaving no room for miscommunication.
Death Can Become More Peaceful
Making end-of-life decisions as they’re needed can be stressful and overwhelming. You often face a decent amount of paperwork and legal processes, at a time that’s often emotional for you and your entire family.
Some health conditions also complicate the decision-making process. Conditions that affect your cognition, like dementia, are particularly notable here, but even those that just affect your physical health are relevant, as they can sap your energy and ability to concentrate.
By making decisions early, advance care planning allows the final months, weeks, and days of life to be more restful. They also ensure the dying individual is treated the way they wish, without the need for conversation or debate.
There’s Peace of Mind for Family Members
While family members may have a general sense of what you hope for at the end of life, most won’t know everything. Getting wishes on paper means that no one needs to try and figure it out. Your decisions are already there, they simply need to be followed.