Health & Care Planning
Why Complete Advance Health Care Plans for My Loved One
“Advance discussion and planning that acknowledges future changes related to [Parkinson’s Disease] the illness may help affected [individual] patients and care partners focus on quality of life” (Lum et al., 2019, p e2572).
It is important to have discussions with your loved one about their wishes and desires regarding their health plan. This allows you to have a better understanding of how you can support their wishes throughout this journey.
Additionally, completing advanced health care planning reduces the stress on you when health care decisions need to be made for a loved one as you and your loved one already have a plan in place.
There are three main components to consider when advance health care planning, including:
- Advance Directive for Healthcare: “A written tool used to guide health care decisions when an individual is unable to do so because of a medical condition” (Minnesota Board on Aging, n.d).
- Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare: “names a person (often referred to as an “agent”) to make medical decisions on your behalf if you are no longer able to make health care decisions for yourself” (Walter, 2021).
- Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment: “gives… people more specific direction over their health care treatments compared to advance directives and more options” (National POLST, 2022).
How to complete an Advance Directive and Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare
- The University of Minnesota has created a health care directive tool that incorporates both the advance directive and durable power of attorney.
- Below is listed a link to the University of Minnesota and their information about this process:
- Below is a link directly to the advance directive and durable power of attorney form:
- To complete this form you must:
- Identify the power of attorney (agent)
- Fill out the tool regarding healthcare desires
- The individual needs to sign and date
- Signed by a notary
- Share with your healthcare providers
How to Complete a Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment
- The Parkinson’s Foundation has created an article on this topic and provides insight into when this form may be needed for an individual with Parkinson’s Disease
- https://www.parkinson.org/resources-support/carepartners/advanced/end-life
- The Minnesota Medical Association has created an overview of the purpose of this directive and how to complete this form:
- This is a link to their discussing this form: https://www.mnmed.org/application/files/3016/7154/4866/FINAL-POLST-for-patients-and-families-nov-2017.pdf
- This is a link to the form: https://www.mnmed.org/application/files/4916/7154/4751/POLST-Form.pdf
- To complete this form, you must:
- Discuss with your loved one’s doctor to determine if this form is appropriate for your loved one
- Complete this form with your loved one and their doctor
- Have your loved one’s health professional sign the document to make it valid
Creating a Plan for Possible Caregiver Changes
It is important to have a plan B for who supports your loved one. While you and your loved one have decided that you are going to be the main care partner, there is a possibility that you may be unable to fulfill this role if something unexpected happens to you.
It is crucial to have a plan B created to allow for an easier transition to a new care partner and reduce the stress for the individuals involved.
You may never need to use this plan, but it will helpful if you do need to utilize it.
There are three steps to creating a plan B for caregiving:
- Create a Care Plan
- The following are the steps needed to be completed for this step:
- Write down all the activities that you assist with.
- Include tips or tricks to make tasks easier.
- Provide instructions on the set-up of the environment (such as the bathroom during a shower)
- Additionally, include any safety concerns (i.e. requires supervision when doing a certain task)
- Identify Caregivers/Care Partners
- The following are the steps needed to be completed for this step:
- It is important to have a plan of who would help support your loved one if you were not able to provide support
- The needed type of supportive care will depend on the needs of your loved one and your shared comfort level with the different types of supportive care
- If you are planning on asking family/friends to help support your loved one, make sure to ask to ensure that they are comfortable completing/following the care plan
- Have multiple plans in place, in case the first couple are unable to meet the care plan needs
- Update the Care Plan
- The following are the steps needed to be completed for this step:
- Update the plan as the needs of your loved one change
- Continue communication with family/friends about any changes to the plan to ensure they still feel comfortable supporting your loved one
References:
Lum, H. D., Jordan, S. R., Brungardt, A., Ayele, R., Katz, M., Miyasaki, J. M., Hall, A., Jones, J., & Kluger, B. (2019). Framing advance care planning in Parkinson disease: Patient and care partner perspectives. Neurology, 92(22), e2571–e2579. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000007552
Minnesota Board on Aging. (n.d.). Advance directives. https://mn.gov/board-on-aging/connect-to-services/legal/advanced-care-planning/advance-directives/#:~:text=Advance%20directive%3A%20A%20written%20tool,different%20types%20of%20advance%20directives.
National POLST. (2022). Honoring the wishes of those with serious illness and frailty. https://polst.org/
Parkinson’s Foundation (n.d.). Planning for end of life. https://www.parkinson.org/resources-support/carepartners/advanced/end-life
Walter. K. (2021). Durable power of attorney for health care. JAMA, 326(16), 1642–1642. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.15882
