Why Advanced Care Planning is Essential for All!
- Karen McPhail
- Feb 2
- 3 min read
To quote Yogi Berra -
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”
And this may not be where you truly want to be!
We plan for many things across our lifetime- meals, vacations, and even clothing, but when individuals are faced with planing for the future, care, retirement, they are often not as enthusiastic and tend to delay and put off planning until something catastrophic happens and forces decisons. Sometimes decisions are then rushed and made poorly, impacting quality and costs.
Although it is difficult to plan for every possible scenario that may occur in the future, Advanced Care Planning is a proactive process that provides a detailed, holistic plan drawing on the knowledge of an interdisciplinary team of experts. This proactive approach covers most areas and potential situations.
The following areas are covered as a part of Advanced Care are planning:
Care Management and holistic Health Support: Clinical support and guidance in assembling care provider team, documenting care considerations and preferences for care. Discussion of health and long term care insurance, Medicaid planning when needed, maximizing funds for health and living, and specifics for supporting expressed wishes throughout.
Legal and Estate Planning Support: Healthcare and financial power of attorney’s, wills, trusts, entitlement programs, general estate planning.
Financial Planning and Money Management Support: Budgeting, de-risking, maximizing funds, financial advisor support and planning, daily money manager and accounting assistance, understanding of long term care insurance.
Housing and Care Environment: Home accessibility for aging in place, care community preferences, short term rehab center preferences, home care companies.
Supportive Services: Transportation, activities, outings, meals, groceries, pharmacy, etc.
Cultural, Social, and Spiritual Planning: Resources and supportive programs, pastoral care, adult day care, senior centers, etc. Diversity and inclusion also discussed. Planning for past trauma to avoid triggers and retraumatization.
Transparent Communication Processes: Clincial care team communication, family counseling, mediation support, guidance, and document storage and sharing of emergency plans, etc.
End of Life Arrangements: Palliative care, hospice, POST, funeral preplanning, legal designee.
To begin the process your Care Manager will do a one to one educational session to review all details and the overall process. This initial session generally takes around an hour of time, but can vary based on client needs and questions. Open communication and discussion are a key part of forming a cohesive and holistic plan. It is important to be honest with yourself and others along the way. Preventative health behaviors are those behaviors undertaken before illness or disease occurs to promote health. As clinicians we will incorporate aspects of preventative health into your Advanced care plan as appropriate.
Here are a few key questions to ask yourself in preparation for planning:
What would you want individuals to know about your preferences for care and treatment?
What is really important to you regarding your life, health, and care aspects?
What cultural or spiritual aspects do you value?
What if you had a sudden, severe illness and could not speak for yourself?
What do you want people to know or remember about you?
Who do you want involved in your care? Or not involved any our care?
Who do you want acting on your expressed wishes or not acting?
What type of care do you want or not want?
What do you value in care providers?
What type of care environment is important to you?
Where do you want to receive care?
Who do you want to provide it?
What are your long term goals?
What are your primary concerns for the future?
It is important to ask yourself these questions and answer honestly. An Advanced Care plan is fluid and should truly reflect your wants and needs for the future. After initially formed it should be reviewed and revisited each year with your care management staff to make adjustments and modifications based on goals and changes in health, finances, or family situations. We provide a comprehensive guide and template to help individuals begin this process in conjunction with our guidance and support.
Taking the time to plan will provide all individuals involved with peace of mind, confidence in making informed decisions, and the ability to navigate forward in a positive way based on expressed wishes. Reach out to a team member today to discuss and begin navigating forward!