January 15, 2021 – Hospice of the Foothills is offering a free webinar titled “Guiding You Through Healthcare Directives” on Wednesday, January 27 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. We invite anyone to participate who could use some guidance about completing a healthcare directive for themselves.

Leading the discussion will be Dylan Hendricks, Estate Planning Attorney who specializes in advance healthcare directives, and Pat Forman, who has 25 years’ experience as well as being a Certified Advance Care Planning Trainer.

Why is it important to have a healthcare directive? If something were to happen to you and you were not able to make your own medical decisions, having your wishes written down allows your family to make decisions on your behalf, confident this is what you would have wanted. Here is an example.

Mark was an average, healthy 55-year-old man. He brushed off his wife’s repeated suggestions they talk about what they would want should a time come when one of them might not be able to communicate their health care wishes. It was a conversation Mark was uncomfortable having, so he found ways to avoid it. When Mark was 57, a skiing injury left him in a coma. Never having had that important conversation, his wife had the added stress of trying to guess what life-sustaining measures Mark would (or would not) want.

It is not always easy to talk about end of life wishes and healthcare options. The fact we might one day become ill or injured and lose the ability to make our own decisions can be hard to think about, much less discuss. Hospice of the Foothills would like to make this process easier for you.

It is important to have these conversations long before you need decisions made on your behalf. It is a gift to your loved ones to put your wishes in writing, to take away their burden of having to make those decisions for you, not knowing what you would have wanted.

A health care directive will:

  • Authorize decision-makers on your behalf should you be unable to make them on your own
  • Specify your wishes related to life-sustaining treatment at various stages of illness or impairment (including COVID or dementia)
  • Give your family peace of mind knowing exactly what your wishes are

To make it easier for you to have those conversations with your loved ones, Hospice of the Foothills is offering “Guiding You Through Healthcare Directives”. In this one-hour free interactive webinar, you will learn simple ways to create a legal Advance Healthcare Directive using the booklet, “Five Wishes.” Upon registration one will be mailed to you for use in the virtual webinar session.

“Guiding You Through Healthcare Directives”

Wednesday, January 27, 1:00 p.m. (PST)

Please preregister by completing the online registration form here: https://tinyurl.com/AHDregister. Shortly after we receive your registration you will be sent a free copy of “Five Wishes”, the document that will be discussed during this informational webinar.

Webinar presenters:

Dylan Hendricks, Estate Planning Attorney
Pat Forman, Certified Advance Care Planning Trainer