Advance care planning and palliative care

Have you considered who you would like to make medical decisions for you in an emergency if you are too unwell to speak for yourself? Have you told anyone in your family or a close friend about your wishes?

These conversations can be challenging, but normalizing communication about wishes, life goals, and care is important for the health and well-being of patients and their caregivers and families. An advance care plan can help answer these types of questions, and palliative care assists in working through these important health decisions.

An advance directive or an "advance care plan" is both an umbrella term for defining and expressing how a patient wants to live and be treated, as well as specific legal documents that allow the patient to specify those wishes and to appoint a person to speak for them when they are unable to speak for themselves. Advance care plan (also called an advance directive) documents can include your Living Will, which helps the health care team know what your wishes are, and your medical power of attorney or healthcare agent, which is who you want to speak for you if you can't speak for yourself.

It is never too early to think about your advance care plan, particularly if you are diagnosed with a serious illness. Having an advance care plan protects not only your peace of mind but also that of your caregivers and loved ones.

Palliative care is a valuable resource that can guide patients, their loved ones, and their healthcare team through the complex process of making decisions about future health and personal care.

Discussing your end-of-life wishes is a process that often requires multiple conversations. This planning phase empowers you to determine the care you receive, should you become unable to make decisions for yourself. It also fosters deeper connections with your loved ones and helps them feel more at ease about supporting your future care needs. When considering your advance care plan, remember to incorporate the cultural, religious and family traditions that hold significance for you.

The Sentara Health Advance Care Planning website provides a jump-start to thinking about your advance care plan, including the Virginia and North Carolina Advance Care Planning Guides and documents to complete an advance directive.