Sentara appeals to younger people for Advance Care Planning

Sentara Healthcare will celebrate Advance Care Planning Week at its hospitals from April 11 through 17, 2023. This long-standing tradition was the model for National Healthcare Decisions Day which falls on April 16th. Sentara is appealing to a new generation to think about health care decision making when they cannot speak for themselves. That's everyone over 18.

"People of all ages are gravely injured or become critically ill every day," says Katy Trapp, director of the Sentara Center for Health Care Ethics, which oversees advance care planning. "Those patients need someone to make critical health care decisions if they're unconscious, and parents, siblings and spouses may not be the best advocates due to their emotions."

Families can, and do, descend into angry disagreements over aggressive medical intervention or comfort care and letting nature take its course toward recovery or death. The emotional effects of these arguments can last for years.

"An advance care plan is a gift of certainty for your family," Trapp says. "The time to communicate your health care wishes is not when you're in the hospital, but when you're healthy and able to sit down with your family and say, 'Let's TALK.'"

'Let's TALK' is a Sentara program encouraging candid conversations about your health care wishes and choosing a trusted decision maker with the fortitude to carry them out. TALK is an acronym for:

Take time to have the conversation.

Always be open and honest.

Leave no doubt about your wishes.

Keep your documents up to date.

Keeping advance care planning (ACP) documents current and accessible is important should you change your mind or designate a new decision maker. Doctors need to know your stated wishes are current and the person representing you is empowered to do so. It's not just about dying. It's about receiving the care you want, regardless of the outcome.

Sentara hospital chaplains are trained to facilitate Advance Care Planning. There are other trained facilitators at most Sentara hospitals. Once you fill out the document, Sentara files it with the U.S. Advance Care Plan Registry for free as a public service. The registry gives participating hospitals timely access to ACP documents whether patients are at home or traveling.

Sentara has been at the forefront of Advance Care Planning advocacy. Its Advance Care Planning Week, launched in 2004, was the model for Virginia and National Health Care Decisions Day every April 16th.

The Sentara Center for Healthcare Ethics maintains an average of 50,000 ACP documents. Trapp's team has rare direct access to the U.S. Advance Care Plan Registry, where they review, update, add and remove about 3,500 documents each month. The Center offers trained facilitators who can help patients fill out ACP documents for Virginia and North Carolina.

"We're focusing on the need for everyone, regardless of age, to have the TALK and file an advance care plan," Trapp concludes. "We encourage everyone to give their family the gift of certainty about their health care wishes."