Meet with like minded seniors to discuss and learn about all the documents we need to have, so we are “Good to Go”.
We will be holding at least one Advanced Care Planning and Estate Planning workshop in November. If you are interested in attending, please call or email our office to be contacted when the date(s) and location are determined.
Imagine…
Imagine that without warning, you are in a serious car crash or had a freak illness or accident. You are in a hospital intensive care unit. You are no longer able to communicate with anyone. Your heartbeat and breathing can continue without artificial life support, but hydration and nutrition is by feeding tube only. Despite the best medical treatment, your physicians believe it is unlikely you will return to your previous quality of life or that you will even regain consciousness.
Imagine your ability to make your own decisions is gone. You live at a residential care facility like a nursing home. You can feed yourself, but you no longer know who you are, who your family members are, or what happens from one moment to the next. You will never regain your ability to communicate meaningfully with others. Your condition will likely become worse over time.
Imagine you have a progressive chronic illness. Your health-care team has told you that over time, you may lose your ability to swallow and/or breathe on your own.
What is advance care planning?
Advance care planning is a way to help you think about, talk about, and share your thoughts and wishes about future health care. It gives you a
“voice” in decision making, helps you determine who would communicate for you if you are unable to communicate for yourself.
There are workbooks to guide you through the process of advance care planning. It includes several thought-provoking questions, like those above, to help you explore the values and beliefs that influence your health-care decisions.
Workbooks have a section with important details about terms relating to various health-care treatments. And there are useful tips to consider as you develop and then share your advance care planning decisions with your family and those closest to you.
Who should consider Advance Care Planning?
Everyone. You never know when you may face an unexpected event or illness and will be unable to make your preferences known. It is particularly important for seniors and those living with a chronic disease.
When should I consider Advance Care Planning?
Now. It is important to take part in conversations about advance care planning before you become seriously ill. Planning will ensure that if an unexpected event occurs, your treatment wishes are known.
What is the purpose of a Health Care Directive?
You have the right to accept or refuse medical treatment at any time. The Health Care Directives Act allows you to express your wishes about the amount and type of health care and treatment you want to receive should you become unable to speak or otherwise communicate this yourself. It also allows you to give another person the power to make medical decisions for you should you ever be unable to make them yourself.
How do I make a Health Care Directive?
Any paper that is signed, dated, and provides the information may be used. A directive may be made by anyone capable of making a health care decision and understanding the consequences of that decision.
The Manitoba government has prepared a form for your convenience. The form serves as a guide for providing the appropriate information including appointing your Health Care Proxy(s) and some instructions for treatment.
There are other documents available thru Dying with Dignity or Advance Care Planning Canada that are much more thought out and provide the ability to provide more detailed instruction to your health care decision makers.
Health Care Documents
Your Health Care Directive includes two parts: your health care decision maker and your end of life wishes.
Health Care Decision Maker or Proxy
The individual(s) you appoint to make medical decisions for you can be described with different name. In Manitoba we can use Health Care Proxy or Medical Decision Maker or Health Care Representative.
It is important to choose your representative carefully. Choose someone who:
- Is of legal age in your province
- Is someone you trust
- Knows you well and understands what makes life meaningful for you
- Understands your religious and moral values
- Will honour your wishes and do what you want, not what they want
- Will be able to make hard choices at a stressful time
- Will be able to refuse or stop treatment, if that’s what you would want, even if you might die
- Will be assertive with doctors if needed
- Will be able to ask questions of doctors and others to get the information needed to make decisions
- Lives near you or will travel to you if needed
Talk with your Family and your Proxy(s)
In addition to documenting your wishes, it is so important that you talk with your family about your preferred end of life care. Your health care decision maker must know what you want or do not want.
These conversations may not be easy for most families. It may take you many attempts to easily talk about it with some family members. I hope at least some of your loved ones will be willing to hear about your requests.
You can even start the conversation by saying you read this article! Give them a copy!
Advanced Health Care Plans
There are many tools to help you with decisions about your end-of-life care.
Dying with Dignity Canada has free Advance Care Planning Kits and Health Care Directives to help you take the guesswork out of documenting your wishes. Advanced Care Planning Canada also has useful workbooks.
If you do not have access to the internet to print off the documents, give us a call and we can have one printed for you ($20 to cover the printing costs). Or better yet, attend our workshop!
How to get the Death you Want: the Fantasy
Most seniors say they want to die at home peacefully. This is a fantasy. Less then 10% of seniors in Canada die at home peacefully. The rest of us will likely die in a hospital or in a personal care home.
Pull the Plug
Many of my clients agree that if it doesn’t look good (end of life), then “pull the plug”. But withdrawing life support is more than just pulling the plug. There may be no plug to pull.
Ending life support may mean “no longer feed or provide hydration”. We need to discuss and understand it is not “starving to death”. Normally at the end of our life we no longer feel hunger. Dying naturally means our body slowly shuts down. Organs including our stomach and digestive system stop working. It can be unnatural and possibly painful if we continue to feed and hydrate when the organs that have started shutting down.
These are not easy discussions, and it may take many attempts to get even a bit comfortable talking about it with your family.
Having a well thought out and documented Advance Care Plan, and someone who will follow through with your wishes, can ensure your stay at a personal care home is not any longer than it needs to be.
What will your end of life look like? Imagine it, talk about it, and then get your Advanced Care Plan in place and talk to your family about it.
Call or email us to be added to our contact list for an upcoming workshop.
Anni Markmann is a Personal Income Tax Professional and Certified Financial Planner; living, working, and volunteering in our community. Contact Ste Anne Tax Service at 204.422.6631 or 36 Dawson Road in Ste Anne (near Co-op) or info@sataxes.ca