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Free Advanced Care Planning Workshop

At some point in our lives, many of us will face a medical emergency due to accident or illness. Half of the people brought to an emergency room are unconscious, sedated or too ill to speak for themselves regarding treatment choices. By completing advance care planning to make your medical wishes known now, you and your loved ones can be ready then.

Advance care planning is the process of thinking through, talking about and documenting your healthcare wishes and priorities before a medical crisis.

A FREE workshop to help adults age 18 and older complete advance care planning, Who Will Speak for You If You Can't Speak for Yourself?, will be heldTuesday, October 29, 2 – 4 p.m., at Redwood Credit Union, 3033 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa, hosted by My Care My Plan: Speak Up, Sonoma County (MCMP).

Participants will learn about the types of care they might choose in a health crisis, and how to make their choices clear through thoughtful, written advance health care directives. They’ll learn how to choose the best person to represent their wishes in a medical crisis, and how to have clear, caring conversations with loved ones and healthcare providers now about care choices and treatment options.

"In my day-to-day work, I see the burden families face when they must choose a treatment strategy for a loved one in crisis. If they've never had conversations with them about the things that matter most to them in the context of life-threatening illness, the stress is so much more," says Suzanne Llamado, RN, PHN, Sutter Care At Home, Advanced Illness Management Program.

"It may feel awkward to start that 'what matters most' conversation," adds Nina Arbour, past Community Relations and Volunteer Services Manager, Hospice Services of St. Joseph Health, "but it's a conversation you want to have on your own time – rather than under pressure in a hospital emergency room."

Llamado and Arbour will lead the October workshop for anyone over age 18.

My Care, My Plan: Speak Up, Sonoma County’s MyCareMyPlanSonoma.org vision is for every adult in the county to become educated and empowered to express their wishes about end-of-life care, to have the opportunity to do so, and to have their wishes honored in a medical crisis.

This is an initiative of the Committee for Healthcare Improvement and Sonoma County Health Action, which mobilizes community partnerships and resources to achieve equity and improve health for all in Sonoma County. MCMP is a collaborative of organizations and individuals from the private, public, nonprofit and volunteer sectors, including local healthcare and social service organizations and other community partners.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019, 2 – 4 p.m.

Redwood Credit Union, 3033 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa

Reservations: MyCareMyPlanSonoma.org, (707) 565-5950 or

aasecretary@schsd.org

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