My favorite topic!
If you have been reading these newsletters, then you know that the subject that I return to over and over again (and again and again) is the health care proxy and the importance of advance care planning. If you are ever in a situation where you are unable to make your own health care decisions, then your trusted decision makers will be able to speak for you only if you give them the authority to do so (that’s the health care proxy you signed). But also, they will need to know what matters most to you, which turns on you knowing and conveying what matters most.
Well, you are in luck, because the good folks at Ariadne labs (that’s Atul Gawande’s lab – if you haven’t read Being Mortal, pick it up and start reading it now!) and the Conversation Project (remember Ellen Goodman from the Globe? She’s been busy since “retirement) are here to help. They have done the field research and reviewed the data, and they used these to develop a fabulous new workbook that helps you both think through what matters most to you and also to convey your thoughts to the people who matter most.
The new workbook is called “What Matters to Me.” You can download it here, or contact our office and we will print one out and mail it to you.
Please take the time to complete the workbook, and then pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
– Alexis