Free advanced care planning workshops offered at Little House
Mission Hospice & Home Care in partnership with Peninsula Volunteers, Inc and Legal Aid Society of San Mateo is offering a series of Take Charge! workshops about advance care planning at Little House Activity Center (800 Middle Ave.) in Menlo Park.
While everyone 18 or older needs to designate a healthcare advocate to speak for them if they are unable, fewer than 7% of adults have done so in an advance care plan. 60% of Californians think this is a conversation they will have with their doctors, yet 89% of doctors avoid starting conversations about the end of life with their patients.
The Take Charge! workshops will help participants begin one of the most important conversations of their lives: When faced with an unexpected serious illness or diagnosis, what kind of care would you want? Who would speak for you if you couldn’t?
At two workshops on Wednesday, June 13, and July 11, from 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm, participants are given the facts, tools and support to think about what matters most to them, talk about their wishes with family and friends, choose their health care agent, and write it down in an Advance Health Care Directive.
On Thursday, June 14, from 1:00 pm-3:00 pm, Legal Aid of San Mateo County will conduct a free legal clinic to help seniors who would like help to get legal questions answered and complete and witness their Advance Health Care Directives.
On Tuesday, July 31, from 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm, Dr. Jerry Saliman, a retired Kaiser physician and Mission Hospice volunteer, will host a community Q&A to answer any questions participants might have about the advance care planning process from a physician’s perspective.
Workshops are free but reservations are requested. Please call 650-326-2025 or email littlehouse@penvol.org to reserve your place.
Take Charge! is a community-led coalition dedicated to creating a compassionate community for people facing serious illness, death and bereavement. For more information and a free, downloadable Take Charge! Toolkit go to http://www.MissionHospice.org/TakeCharge.
