When the people you trust know what is important to you, it will be easier for them to make decisions on your behalf.

Advance care planning begins by thinking about your beliefs, values and wishes regarding future health care treatment. It is about having conversations with your close family, friends and health care provider(s) so that they know the health care treatment you would agree to, or refuse, if you become incapable of expressing your own decisions.

When you write down your wishes and instructions for future health care, you are making an Advance Care Plan. An Advance Care Plan is a written summary of a capable adult’s wishes or instructions to guide a substitute decision maker if that person is asked by a physician or other health care provider to make a health care treatment decision on behalf of the adult.

Your Advance Care Plan can also include:

A Representation Agreement where you write your instructions and name someone to make your health and personal care decisions if you become incapable.
An Advance Directive with your instructions for health care that are given to your health care provider, which they must follow directly when it speaks to the care you need at the time if you become incapable.
An Enduring Power of Attorney where you appoint someone to make decisions about your financial affairs, business and property.
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Resources to Get the Conversation Started

Revelstoke Hospice has fun ways for you and your family to have essential conversations

The Hello Game: A safe and enjoyable game to start conversations.

The Hello Game is a safe and enjoyable way for people to start meaningful conversations with others around their personal wishes for living well until the end. Having these conversations before a health crisis happens can help people receive care that is aligned with their wishes and values.

The game helped hundreds of British Columbians understand the importance of sharing their health-care wishes with family, close friends and health-care providers.

In exchange for the use of this resource, the organizer of the game event will be asked to complete a post-event evaluation.HELLO Game was created by Common Practice LLC Sponsored by BC Centre for Palliative Care.

Play the game

The Human Journey

THE HUMAN JOURNEY® Method helps professionals and volunteers bridge the isolation and confusion of groups undergoing loss and life transition, including: serious illness, end of life, bereavement, and addiction recovery.

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Green Burial

Discussing your end-of-life desires can be difficult, no matter how well-versed you are in the subject at hand. This short video not only gives an overview of why someone would prefer a green burial, it shows how the deathcare industry has become “toxic.” Giving someone more information about the “traditional” options (like embalming, burial in a vault, cremation) can help them understand your desires.

If you are struggling to find a way to start the conversation, we recommend starting here!

DIY funerals

As we make our way through the holidays, many families are taking time to discuss their hopes and plans for end-of-life. Planning ahead is the best way to ensure a low-stress and values-aligned outcome.

This article by Tom Banse sheds light on those precious days between a death and a green burial. Though legislation differs from state to state, the article advises: “No matter what your funeral preferences may be, a piece of universal advice is to talk over your wishes with people you trust and write them down in advance.”

Read the article

Green Burial Café

Green Burial Nova Scotia
The last Wednesday of every month • Online via Zoom

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