Honoring Care Decisions is a program to promote and improve advance care planning at New London Hospital and in our communities.
Working with our patients, their families, and our communities, we will build a system to support meaningful conversations about what matters most in life for a time when patients are unable to speak for themselves.
Advance care planning (ACP) is the process of planning ahead for medical care in the event you are unable to communicate your wishes to your family and health care providers. ACP is for all adults at all stages of health and involves:
- Choosing a health care agent / Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (DPOAH) to speak on your behalf if you are unable to speak for yourself
- Sharing your values and wishes for future care with your health care agent / DPOAH, your family and health care providers
- Recording these wishes in an advance directive (a legal document in which you record your health care agent and wishes for future health care)
What is an ACP conversation?
A free advance care planning conversation provides you with the opportunity to:
- Reflect on your goals, values, and beliefs for future care
- Understand possible health care situations and decisions
- Choose and prepare your health care agent / DPOAH to make health care decisions that reflect your goals, values, and beliefs
- Document these goals in an advance directive
- Have the document notarized and scanned into your medical record
How do I attend an ACP conversation?
The Honoring Care Decisions program provides free individual and group advance care planning conversations with a trained advance care planning facilitator. Please contact Honoring Care Decisions to register for an advance care planning conversation.