Northwest Life Passages Community Conversations: Advance Care Planning

The Palliative Care Institute and the Northwest Life Passages Coalition invites you to participate in a community discussion about successes and challenges of Advance Care Planning initiatives in our community.

In 2014, a community task force wrote a Blueprint that outlines steps we need to take to make Whatcom County a community of excellence for those with serious illness or facing death and their families.  This Blueprint has 5 pillars:  Advance Care Planning, Clinical Care, Provider Education, Community Education and Activation and Policy/Sustainability.

The Northwest Life Passages Coalition has been given the responsibility of helping to implement this Blueprint.  As part of that goal, we are hosting community conversations about each pillar. Our intent is to share the progress that has been made, the challenges we still face and to listen to your ideas and concerns.

At this session, we will briefly share the current status of Advance Care Planning, outline some new initiatives and challenges that still need to be addressed.  We hope to spend the bulk of the session exploring your ideas and concerns so that we can continue to make progress toward our goal of supporting every adult in Whatcom County in planning for their own end-of-life choices and care. 

Some possible topics we might explore together include:

What are challenges have you faced in the Advance Care Planning Process?

What are your concerns about Advance Care Planning, and what do you need for us to do this work better?

When Advance Care Planning events are offered, primarily older, white, well-educated people show up.  What are some ideas for reaching out to other groups we are not yet serving well? 

What strategies might encourage my family/friends to have this conversation?