A Guide for Future Health Care Decisions
What is Advance Care planning (ACP)?
Deciding what treatment and care you want and help you avoid the ones you don't want.
How to empower your loved ones and reduce their burden by clearly communicating your wishes.
Reduce the risk of a communication conflict between your family members and health care providers.
Breaking it down into stages will help you on this difficult journey.
about what you would want if you had to make difficult choices.
a spokesperson who can speak for you if you can't.
about your views with your loved ones, and health care providers.
a personal recording (audio, video, letter) to share your wishes.
Why is planning important?
Planning for myself
The best time to consider how you want to receive future medical care is when you're healthy. Planning with a clear state of mind allows you to begin conversations early on in life so that your loved ones and health care providers become familiar with your values and wishes over time.
Planning for a loved one
Beginning the process of planning for future medical care can be a very hard conversation to have with a loved one. As a caregiver, it's important to let your loved one know that by thinking and talking about it, you will be empowered to honor their wishes and decisions.
Planning for a Patient
Every patient is different. Two patients with the same condition may have very different ideas about what kind of treatment they want. Planning My Way will help facilitate an open conversation so that a patient's wishes are clearly understood.
About The Foundation
Planning My Way (PMW) is a project of the Cunniff-Dixon Foundation in collaboration with Robert Pearlman, MD, MPH, of the University of Washington and Melissa Bottrell, MPH, PhD of Ethics Quality Consulting. The vision, research, and testing of PMW originated with Dr. Pearlman and colleagues several years ago involving Veterans and their family members; and received broad review from a diverse panel of end-of-life and ethics experts including clinicians, clergy and consumer advocates. Our partnership helped bring that work forward to a consumer-oriented print and digital workbook experience that helps individuals and families think about, learn and communicate what matters to them as they contemplate both legal and supporting future health care directives.
The mission of the Cunniff-Dixon Foundation is to enrich the Doctor-Patient relationship near the end of life by fostering human development in medicine and supporting and funding projects relating to Palliative Care.