Late Life Journey
Advance Care Planning
The Advance Directive is a legal form established by the Oregon
legislature and written word for word in Oregon Statute.
Within it are your specific instructions regarding the type of
care you want or do not want if you become ill with a condition
that leaves you unable to speak for yourself.
Careful consideration of who to appoint as your
Health Care Representative is extremely important and
valuable when there comes a time when an Advanced Directive is necessary to guide the medical staff.
I will work with you to make sure that your Plan represents who you are, your values and how you want your wishes to be honored. The planning process helps adults of any age or stage of health understand and share their personal values, life goals and preferences. And, it is one of the valued gifts you can leave for those you love so they know what to do when and if the time comes.
Care Management
&
Patient Advocacy
As a patient advocate, I are committed to providing professional and compassionate support for older adults. This can include helping older adults navigate the complex healthcare system and understand medical transactions, having critical discussions about treatment plans and interventions to assess the pros and cons, and working with your medical team so that you are always fully informed and understand your options.
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I offer care management services based on a holistic approach centered on the individual, not individual illness, disease, or injury. This may include a comprehensive assessment to understand a client's values and needs in order to develop a plan of care that addresses all aspects of a person's welfare.
Often, as we age and in our older years, there can be far too many aggressive treatment procedures that, when given in late life do not benefit an older adult. Slow medicine can be a more appropriate approach in evaluating how to move forward when a serious and or terminal illness arrives.
End of Life Doula
You may have just received a terminal diagnosis.
Suddenly life as you know it changes for you, your family, your friends, your colleagues. With decades of experience in working with individuals, families, and medical teams to advocate, to support, and guide a
person's end of life wishes, I do what I can in service to help you have the best opportunity to die with grace; to die in peace, and to die as you have wanted.
Services
"One way that Dr. Emanuel suggests we improve end of life care is by starting sooner. 'We need to be willing to acknowledge 6 or 12 months beforehand that a patient is not doing well and that death is going to happen,' he says.
This is where doulas can contribute to improving care, because we can work with a patient and family very productively many months to a year before death is likely.
When a dying person and family can work on questions of meaning and legacy, the resulting sense of purpose can lessen some of the symptoms that drive dying people to the hospital and acute care units."
- Henry Fersko-Weiss of INELDA