Advance Care Planning for the Whole Family

Be prepared. Avoid the pain of uncertainty that so often accompanies a sudden illness, trauma or terminal diagnosis and any age or stage of life.

All aspects of advance care planning are addressed. I help you to:

• choose a spokesperson,
• finalize an appropriate advance healthcare directive,
• understand life-sustaining treatments (like CPR),
• obtain medical orders from your doctors when needed, and
• communicate your choices to family members and your medical team.

In person or remotely by video conference, I help you to:

• anticipate and prepare for the time when someone else will be speaking on your behalf to make medical and other care-related decisions;
• ensure you (or a loved one) will receive the care that is most important for you or your loved one;
• make fully informed choices on life-sustaining treatments;
• avoid interventions and treatments you may not want and those that won’t benefit you;
• engage your family and others in your circle of care in order to avoid stress and misunderstandings at times of decision or transition;
• understand palliative care and hospice when you need it and how to get it,

Be empowered by knowing what you need and how to ask for it.

Advance Care Planning Family Meetings

I facilitate meetings for families so you can avoid misunderstandings and find common ground when discussing and managing care during serious illness, dementia, or end of life.

Your skills, knowledge, and expertise on that difficult-to-deal-with subject (advance care planning) were invaluable and have made it easy for me to express my opinions and to make my end of life wishes clear. After our conversation was over I felt relieved, lifted and happy. It is an assuring feeling to know that my end of life health care decisions will be honored some day and that my children and their families are very much less likely to be confused. Throughout my life, I have put in a considerable effort so that my children and grandchildren have as many “special and beautiful moments with mom and Nana ” as possible and I hope the very last goodbye will be as serene and peaceful as I have wished for.

H.Y., Physician, Chicago, Il

In addition to helping us devise a care plan for my mother who had dementia, Lael helped my husband and I draft our own advanced health care directives and plans that will be an important resource for our children and family members when we are facing our end of life. My mother’s advanced healthcare directive was drafted by her and a lawyer, not an experienced medical professional, so her directive lacked the foresight and detail and instructions for making specific medical decisions which made my mom’s end of life care complicated and it extended her suffering. It was unbearable. We don’t want our family to face such confusion and regret. With Lael’s knowledge and guidance we feel confident that our wishes are stated clearly which will allow our family and caregivers to take care of us in the manner we choose for ourselves.

AP, Bay Area, CA