One topic many of us avoid concerns end-of-life decisions. How many reading this have health directives in place, a legal and effective will, a pink directive stuck to your refrigerator door in the event EMT’s come to your home etc etc ….. I am certainly guilty as charged!
Compassion & Choices recently circulated My End-of-Life Decisions Toolkit Guidebook that you can also download as a pdf ….. or contact Compassion & Choices for a hard copy if you want to send to family or friends. AnCan appreciates many may not endorse Compassion & Choices’ agenda; nonetheless we recommend this guidebook as an excellent starting point to map out many of the difficult and controversial issues terminal disease raises.
Some of its features not often seen are:
- Values Worksheet (Pg 19)
- Detailed Specific Therapies Election (Pg 21)
- Dementia Provision (Pg 25)
- Sectarian Healthcare Directive (Pg 27)
- Hospital Visitation Authorization (Pg 31)
There are several other good addendum making it worthwhile to review this Guide carefully.
This last bullet point is particularly poignant for those who attend the AnCan Caregivers Virtual Group. One of our regular participants has been troubled by legal barriers restricting visits to a lifelong friend with no family. It is heartbreaking to hear the best intentions and a giving heart foiled by misapplication of privacy protection rules.
Our thanks to Susan Lahaie, one of our Caregiver Moderators, for bringing this to our attention. We also recommend you watch her late husband’s, Ron Silverio, video.