Conversations that Matter: Advance Care Planning in Louisville
Baptist Health Louisville: Conversations that Matter – Advance Care Planning in Louisville
Learn about our approach to the challenging but important conversations for adults of all ages to have. Baptist Health’s Advance Care Planning: Conversations That Matter program is designed to facilitate meaningful conversations about end-of-life care so you and your family members are prepared if faced with important decisions about your healthcare.
Conversations that Matter – Advance Care Planning HealthTalks Transcript
Kenneth C Anderson, MD
Advance care planning is an organized conversation concerning someone’s end-of-life wishes. It’s a detailed conversation about what could happen in the future and how you want your wishes followed.
Baptist Health Advance Care Planning: Conversations that Matter is a program that assists individuals in completing advance care planning. It’s a program where we will assist you in the conversation. We will then file it in our records, have it available, and assure that your wishes are followed at the appropriate time.
Advance care planning should be done by everyone. When we’re younger, in our 20s and 30s, if there’s something tragic like an accident, someone should be able to speak for the person. In middle age, when you have some chronic illnesses, it would also be good for someone to know your wishes. Lastly, as you get elderly and have a terminal condition, definitely have someone who is able to speak for you.
Advance care planning is not just a living will. If it’s just something written on a paper, you’re not going to cover all the possibilities that could occur when it’s really needed.
Many times, you might not have expressed your wishes to anyone. You might not want to be on life support. You might not want tube feedings or artificial nutrition. You want to be kept comfortable, and if you don’t tell your wishes to someone, they will not know what to do.
