"The Right Choice at the Right Time", a 128-page Idaho-specific advance care planning resource book, was published in 2008 and distributed to every library and senior center in the state. The contents of the book are available for easy reference on this website.
To purchase a hard copy of the Right Choice at The Right Time book,
please submit the RCRT book order form
to Idaho End-of-Life Coalition
or contact IdELC@clearwire.net. |
In communities
throughout Idaho, stories about life and death are shared around kitchen tables, on backyard
porches, and in corner cafes. Often these stories linger on the type of care given to a dying
person and whether his or her wishes were respected.
Friends and family
take comfort when loved ones receive the care they want as they complete life. These successful
end-of-life experiences are only possible when family members, friends, and health care workers
understand the wishes of the person who is dying.
However, all too often
these stories of living and dying reflect confusion and chaos as family members try to determine
what kind of care their mother or father, uncle or aunt, sister or brother, husband or wife would
want at the end of life.
Do they want
all forms of medical treatment?
What about
artificial nutrition or hydration?
Is comfort
care and freedom from pain their deepest desire?
“How do we
make these decisions?” they ask. Not having taken time to talk with loved ones about
care at the end of life when there was the opportunity, they now are adrift in a sea of
indecision and, often, family conflict.
Give your family
and friends a special gift this year. Share your wishes for care at the end of life. We know
that talking about the end-of-life may not be easy. We also know that without these
conversations there is a good chance your wishes—and those of your loved ones—may
not be honored.
The Right
Choice at The Right Time publication is part of an ongoing community engagement campaign
that encourages people in Idaho to share their wishes for care at the end of life with people
close to them. A Better Way Coalition, Inc. and the Idaho State Hospice and Palliative Care
Organization are united in their commitment to bring this campaign to all regions of the state
and to increase the number of people in Idaho who have completed their advance directive
(living will, durable power of attorney for health care and physician orders for scope of
treatment, the POST).
This publication
will help you start the conversation. It provides information and all the forms necessary to
formalize wishes for care and then register them in the Idaho Health Care Directive Registry.
It is typical to think about and make plans for life’s important events. Completing
life is as important as beginning life. Why not make your plans right now?
THANKS
TO OUR PROJECT SPONSORS….
Publication
of The Right Choice at The Right Time would not have been possible without funding from the
Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, Inc. President Harry L. Bettis expressed their
support in the grant award letter: “We evaluated many proposals and decided
to support the positive impact your organization is making in our great state. Keep up the
good work!”
Foundation
support was enhanced with additional financial support from Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical
Center and St. Luke’s.
Ongoing
project administrative support has been provided by the Idaho Health Care Association. |
It is believed
but not guaranteed that the information contained in this publication is accurate and complete.
Readers are encouraged to consult with their physician, attorney, or other professional in
making medical or legal decisions that will affect their lives. Sharing wishes for care at
the end of life with family members and other loved ones is also very important. |
Additional Web Resources for Advance Care Planning
Isn't it time to take time? University of Idaho website about advance planning and talking with your family about end of life decisions. "Getting started is the
hardest part." Video streaming of people in Idaho talking about end of life and advance directives.
The American Bar Association
Commission on Law and Aging says… Writing an advance directive by itself does not ensure that
your wishes will be understood and respected. Studies have shown that standard advance directive forms
do little to influence end-of-life decisions without: 1) informed, thoughtful reflection about your
wishes and values, and 2) personal communication between you and your likely decision-makers before a
crisis occurs. Good advance planning for health care decisions is, in reality, a continuing
conversation - about values, priorities, the meaning of one's life, and quality of life.
The Commission developed
a Consumer Tool kit for Health
Care Advance Planning to help you in this process. This tool kit contains a variety of self-help
worksheets, suggestions, and resources. There are 10 tools in all, each clearly labeled and user-friendly.
The tool kit does not create a formal advance directive for you. Instead, it helps you do the much harder
job of discovering, clarifying, and communicating what is important to you in the face of serious illness.
(Pages in the toolkit take a few moments to load – it is worth waiting.)
ABA Tool kit
Contents
- How to Select Your health Care Agent or Proxy
- Are Some Conditions Worse than Death
- How Do You Weigh Odds of Survival
- Personal Priorities & Spiritual Values Important
to Your Medical Decisions
- After Death Decisions to Think About Now
- Conversation Scripts: Getting Past the Resistance
- The Proxy Quiz for Family or Physician
- What to Do After Signing Your Health Care Directives
(Advance Directives)
- Guide for Health Care Proxies (Durable Power of Attorney
for Health Care)
- Resources: Advance Planning for Health Care (Advance
Care Planning)
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