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Monthly Newsletter
August 2019
Join us for the Capital Area Summit
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
The Capital Area Summit will feature an Advance Care Planning (ACP) track with three breakout sessions.  Nursing and Social Work continuing education credits are pending for this event ($10/credit hour, cash and check only) . Network and learn from local, state, and national leaders! The Capital Area Summit is part of the Great Lakes Health Connect 2019 Summit Series.

Learn the best practices of implementing Advance Care Planning (ACP) programs in various settings (healthcare and community based). Presentations will help attendees understand recent policy changes, advance directive storage/retrieval mechanisms, and how to promote shared decision making at all stages of ACP. These presentations will enhance healthcare provider’s ability to honor a person’s wishes!
Did You Know?
ACP Myth:
My doctor will tell me if (s)he knows I am facing a life-limiting situation; and (s)he will know what I want for my care. Not necessarily.

In JoNel Aleccia’s poignant article , she shares Dr. Ron Naito’s advanced cancer experience. Dr. Naito, a physician, had the same experience as many people; his physician’s reluctance to share the diagnosis, and his physician's lack of skill in sharing the life-altering news. A big focus of MCM’s community engagement process is teaching community members how to talk with their healthcare providers. Strong self-advocacy, and helping the Patient Advocate learn how to talk with healthcare providers may help people get healthcare that matches their preferences (“goal-concordant care”). We know that poor communication can harm seriously ill patients. Some physicians now believe that failure to engage hospitalized elderly patients and their families in advance care planning is a medical error ( Heyland et al.2013 ; Alison & Sudore, 2013 ).

Read Aleccia’s article through to the end. Then, if you haven’t already, attend one of our upcoming educational workshops to learn more about self and patient advocacy. Finally, speak up!
Your end-of-life quality could depend on it!
Upcoming Events
First Steps Advance Care Planning
Facilitator Training

Friday, November 8, 2019
8 AM to 4:30 PM
Grand Rapids, Michigan
For questions regarding our upcoming training, please contact:
"It's About the Conversation"
Free & open to the public


Wednesday, August 28, 2019
1 PM to 2:30 PM

at

Spectrum Healthier Communities
665 Seward Ave NW, Suite 110
Grand Rapids, MI 49504

No one can predict when a sudden illness or accident may leave you unable to make personal healthcare decisions. Who would speak for you if you could not speak for yourself? Would they know what to say about what medical treatment you would, or would not want? Would they follow your preferences regarding other aspects of your care?

  • What is Advance Care Planning (ACP)?
  • How do I choose an effective Patient Advocate?
  • Patient Advocate Boot Camp: How to effectively speak on someone’s behalf.
  • Does my existing Advance Directive meet my needs (Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare)?
  • Steps to creating an effective Advance Directive.
  • How to easily make your Advance Directive available to hospitals.

To register, please contact:

Interested in exploring how you can volunteer with MCM?


Our Impact
Thanks to our partners around the state who register their patient and client Advance Directives to Great Lakes Health Connect, we now have over 60,000 documents available in the Community Health Record! Registering these documents makes them available (only as appropriate) to a state-wide network of hospitals, primary, specialty, and allied care organizations, ensuring that healthcare providers will have immediate access to their patient's wishes.
Click here to learn more about registering your patient and client documents or to schedule your ACP appointment today!
Making Choices Michigan | Office: (616) 421-4840 | MakingChoicesMichigan.org