Search Results for: advance care planning

How are you planning to mark this Saturday, April 16th, which is National Healthcare Decisions Day? Maybe grab your best friends or your closest loved ones and have a really good heart-to-heart about what matters and what you fear the most? Good communication and heartfelt conversation are the foundation for…

In the early months of the pandemic, especially when it became clear that older adults were at high risk of serious illness or even death from COVID, there was the hope that advance care planning (documenting your wishes regarding end-of-life care and appointing a health care proxy to speak on…

Palliative care specialist Rachel Clarke, writing in The Guardian, perhaps sums up this moment better than anyone else: “Whether we like it or not, society’s greatest taboo- death and dying- has been thrust unequivocally centre stage.” Indeed, virtually none of us will escape the reality that loved ones, friends or…

No matter how often you’re told that planning in advance for serious illness is essential for you, your family and your health care team, so many of us still refuse to fill out forms or partake in conversations. And as our society continues to age, such advance care planning just…

A recent national survey of older adults living alone, conducted by AARP, found both good and not-so-good news when it comes to seniors aging “solo.” About 10% of the US population over age 50 are “solo agers” and for women over age 75, that number jumps to 42%. It’s a…

It’s never easy to discuss what happens if you or a loved one should become seriously ill. It’s only human nature that we would prefer not to discuss our own possible death or the potential loss of a loved one. But as you’ve likely experienced from those who have previously…