Long-Term Planning
Long-term and advance-care planning should occur at a point in the life of a patient before significant cognitive impairments are evident. This section provides resources for the entire care team that includes the clinical practice, families, formal and informal caregivers, and the patient. Physicians can use these resources to help initiate conversations that prepare patients to plan for the aging process.
Suggested Physician Resources
Advance Care Planning Fact Sheet
The National Institute on Aging’s fact sheet and website contains information for patients on advance care planning. This document provides definitions, answers patients’ and families’ questions about making decisions and offers guidance for how to make the patient’s wishes known.
Advance Care Planning Resources
The Center for Practical Bioethics provides information, planning resources, audio interviews, case studies, and articles about advance-care planning.
Five Wishes
Five Wishes is a resource for creating advanced care directives with your patients in the event of a serious illness or disease. It can be used in all 50 states, with eight states needing to complete it in conjunction with other required forms. It is available in 28 languages. There is a small fee associated with each download.
National POLST
The National POLST Consortium provides national resources related to the POLST: Portable Medical Orders. POLST communicates medical orders for seriously ill or frail people. The site includes a directory of state POLST Programs.
Patient, Family, and Caregiver Resources
The Conversation Project
The Conversation Project and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement have resources for patients, families, and caregivers to discuss matters of end-of-life care. The Conversation Starter Kit, including in the context of dementia, can be downloaded from the site.
PREPARE For Your Care
PREPARE for your care is an evidence-based, on-line, and video-based, step-by-step program to help diverse individuals do medical planning. It has specific support for surrogate decision makers – PREPARE For Their Care.
End-of-Life Planning
The Alzheimer’s Association offers information and resources on end-of-life planning. It provides an outline of conversation points for physicians, patients, families, and other caregivers to discuss sensitive topics related to end-of-life issues.
Go Wish Card Game
This resource helps individuals consider various care choices and voice them to family and caregivers.
Dementia Directive
Some may be interested in a dementia-specific advance directive. This directive serves to communicate your wishes if you are to develop dementia and can help family and caregivers with facing difficult medical decisions regarding care.
Other Long-term Care Planning
What is Long-Term Care?
The National Institute on Aging resource provides information for patients on a variety of aspects of long-term care. Health, financial, legal, housing, and other options are described.
Legal Planning
The Alzheimer’s Association offers information and resources on creating a plan for legal issues for patients and families. The information covers the basics of legal planning, documentation needed, and when to get help from an attorney.
Financial Planning
The Alzheimer’s Association offers information and resources on financial planning after a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. It can aid patients and families in discussions about the cost of care and other professional assistance when dealing with planning for long-term illness and end-of-life care.
Caregiving Support
The Alzheimer’s Association offers information regarding different types of long-term care and determining best fits for persons living with dementia. See also the Caregiving section.