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Advance Care Planning

Who would speak for you if you were unable to speak for yourself ? 

Advance care planning is the process of planning for your future care and making your wishes known.

Choose a health care agent               Communicate your health care choices to others               Create an advance Directive

PCW is partnering with Honoring Care Decisions to promote and improve advance care planning. How can you participate?

  • Sign up for a free Advance Care Planning Conversation here to meet with a trained facilitator who can help guide you and your family through the process
  • Host a group discussion within your own community! We will provide the educational materials, speaker, follow-up material, and trained facilitators. Connect us with your community organizations, businesses, and clubs. Get in touch with Nicole LaBombard for more info: 603-653-6816 or partners.for.community.wellness@hitchcock.org
  • Get trained to become a facilitator for your community! Trainings are scheduled on an on-going basis. To learn more, email partners.for.community.wellness@hitchcock.org

Data

Infographic

In the fall of 2015, Dartmouth-Hitchcock and community partners conducted a region-wide survey to learn more about knowledge, attitudes, and barriers to effective advance care planning in the Upper Connecticut River Valley.

With help from PCW, the survey was disseminated through employers, social service agencies, volunteer Aging in Place groups, town and regional listservs, and other media.  1,850 responses were gathered between September and December 2015. The results were released publicly on March 10, 2016 at a meeting of community and regional stakeholders at the Listen Center in White River Junction, Vermont.

Through this process, we learned that only 42% of residents have completed Advance Directives and only 20% are accessible to the health care system.

The top 5 Reasons for not having an advance directive:

  1. I haven’t gotten around to it
  2. I need more info to get started
  3. I haven’t figured out what type of care I want.
  4. I don’t know where to get one.
  5. I’ve never thought about it.