ADVANCED CARE PLANNING DAY
Advanced Care Planning Day brings awareness to the importance of having a personal plan for your health care. Everyone needs a personal plan, but we would like to share the importance for the seniors that identify in the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Due to their increased experience of discrimination in health care settings, it is vital to have a plan.
Advanced Care Planning Day
April 16th, 2023
Photo credit to: logan-weaver-lgnwvr-itLoG1RK02U-unsplash.jpg
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The First Nations Health Authority explains that Advanced Care Planning is “having a basket of helpful information that you can reach into when needed”. They share a resource on how to prepare your basket at: https://www.fnha.ca/Documents/fnha-advance-care-planning-brochure.pdf.
A care plan sets out your wishes for a time that you may not be able to tell someone yourself. Fraser Health shares the 5 steps to completing your planning:
Step 1 – Think about what is important to you,
Step 2 – Learn about different medical procedures,
Step 3 – Decide on a substitute decision maker,
Step 4 – Talk about your wishes with your decision maker, and loved ones,
Step 5 – Record your wishes.
They made a short video to share this: https://www.fraserhealth.ca/health-topics-a-to-z/advance-care-planning#.ZDmRvnbMLrc.
Advanced planning is an empowering way to ensure that your wishes are honored.
Advanced Care Planning in Canada provides resources to get you started on your plan. They share the importance of ensuring that your values and wishes are included in your plan and that you share them with your family, friends, or decision maker.
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Canadian Virtual Hospice has an excellent resource on how to make an Advanced Care Plan. They have provided a guide to help you prepare for important decisions for your future. It is made by people who identify as Two-Spirit & LGBTQIA+. We hope this will assist: Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, and all sexual and gender-diverse seniors in their planning. It is intended to help you think about what is important to you, what concerns you might have, and who you will want to make decisions for you if a time comes when you can’t make decisions for yourself.
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If you don’t have a plan and end up in a situation that you can not speak for yourself, the default system in BC will be used to contact someone to speak for you. Northern Health shares the hierarchy that they use as follows:
Spouse
Adult children
Parents
Siblings
Grandparents
Grandchildren
A relative by birth or adoption
A close friend or someone immediately related by marriage.
Many of the seniors in our community didn’t have children and may not have a spouse or family to make decisions. Sometimes we are estranged from our family and #7, a relative by birth or adoption is a scary situation. This makes planning ahead vital to ensure that your wishes are followed. If you don’t already have an Advanced Care Plan, we encourage you to use Advanced Care Planning Day April 16th, 2023, to start thinking about what you would like and who you may share it with. If you already have a plan, you may consider if it needs to be updated, as things change in life!
Best today and in planning for your future.
Dignity Senior Society.
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