Ending Life Well: Conversations & Connections Thinking About Life and Death: An Overview of Thoughtful Conversations By Alex Trevino and McKenna Reinhard , End of Life Specialists The End of Life Team at PCOA recognizes that choosing the Advance Directive of Attorney and another to act as Mental Healthcare Power of Attorney, which might be a drawback if you would prefer to name different people.
template that best fits your needs can be a challenge. In fact, for many people this is the main barrier to completing these documents. For this reason, we have decided to dedicate three months to looking at each of the Advance Directive template options that PCOA provides at no cost. In September, we looked at “Five Wishes” and this month we will look at “Thoughtful Life Conversations.” Thoughtful Life Conversations is much shorter than the other Advance Directive options available from PCOA. While its conciseness might make you think that it is not as robust as the other two, it is equally capable of ensuring that your wishes are honored. This one piece of paper contains three of the four Advance Directives that we have in Arizona: the Living Will, Healthcare Power of Attorney, and Mental Healthcare Power of Attorney. The Living Will section (titled “Arizona Medical Living Will”) provides space for you to indicate your preference on medical care. It also provides space for you to write additional statements/desires and to indicate your preference for organ and tissue donation. The other side of the paper is titled “Arizona Healthcare Power of Attorney with Optional Mental Health Authority.” This is where you write down who you would like to act as your Power of Attorney. You are then given the option to empower these individuals to also act as your Mental Healthcare Power of Attorney. In this template, you cannot pick one person to act as Healthcare Power
Many people find this template easy to navigate due to its straightforward format, and find it to be a convenient option due to its short length. While it is not as conversational as Five Wishes, it is also not as daunting as the Attorney General’s Life Care Planning packet (which we’ll talk about in our November article). For more information, or to set up an appointment for individualized assistance, please call PCOA’s End of Life Team is excited to invite you to two events we are hosting in October (in addition to our interactive end of life care planning presentations, “Let’s Talk About Living… and Dying” and “Preparativos Hechos en Vida”). Keeping Their Memory Alive: Exploring El Dia de los Muertos will be happening on Tuesday, October 4th from 5:30 – 7:30 PM at the The Katie at 600 S. Country Club Rd. This will be an educational night to learn about Dia de los Muertos. Our guest speakers will look at the cultural and historical backgrounds of this day along with ofrendas (altars), the elements commonly found on ofrendas, and why those elements are significant. our Helpline at (520) 790-7262. October End of Life Events The second event Remember Together: A Community Ofrenda Open House will take place on Wednesday, October 27th from 5:30 – 7:30 PM at The Katie at 600 S. Country Club Rd.
This will be an open house where you will have the opportunity to view a community ofrenda, learn about the historical and cultural background of Dia de los Muertos, and partake in a live discussion about the elements on ofrendas and why they are significant. You will also have the opportunity to honor the memory of departed loved ones by releasing a mariposa mensajera, or butterfly messenger.
To register for either of these events, please call Alex at (520) 790-7573 ext. 1778.
October 2022, Never Too Late | Page 23
Pima Council on Aging
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs