By Jan Gillespie, MD

Expanding community awareness and knowledge of advance care directives and increasing the number of people who have completed advance care directives are high priorities of the the Northern Colorado Medical Society (NCMS) over the next five years. NCMS is one of the founding board members of SOCI (Systems of Care Initiative, Inc.), a community based non-profit whose board includes representatives of UCHealth, Banner Health and the Health District of Northern Larimer County. SOCI has been awarded a $39,000 grant from The Colorado Health Foundation to engage and empower patients in their own health care, with particular emphasis on advance care planning.

Advance care planning is making those decisions that will guide health care decisions at the end of life. It is recommended for anyone 18 years or older regardless of health status and is intended to provide for an individual’s care according to their wishes should something happen such that they cannot speak or otherwise communicate. Making an Advance Care Plan involves knowing about care choices and making informed decisions when both the individual and his or her family are not in a stressful situation. It is frequently referred to as a “gift” to one’s family and loved ones to remove the burden of making painful decisions during a time of high stress.

The grant funding will allow SOCI to:

1. Provide patient activation coaches to discuss end-of-life wishes and to assist in document preparation in a home setting or public location. The coaches will coordinate with patients’ physicians and other providers to facilitate and implement advance care planning. The coach will discuss the medical durable power of attorney and the living will.
2. Expand the workforce of the patient activation coaches through a program to train volunteers in advance care planning. The program will include classroom work and one-on-one mentoring by SOCI’s trained coaches.
3. Develop Continuing Medical Education (CME) accredited web-based training for medical providers and their staff for advance care planning.
4. Develop an educational web-based video for patients to view in the office setting prior to their conversation about advance care planning with their physician.

SOCI, along with the Health District of Northern Larimer County, Lutheran Family Services, Sharing The Care, UCH and Banner Health, are collaborating to launch a community-wide initiative to increase the number of people in our community that have legal documents stating their end-of-life wishes. Community leaders are meeting July 26^th to work on developing community wide processes for advance care planning. Please let us know if there are other groups interested in participating in this planning meeting.

It is an exciting time to be in Northern Colorado as we move toward a community-wide effort to raise awareness and increase the number of people with advance directives. Would you consider working with us to complete this gift to our community and the families who live here?

SOCI is looking for volunteers for their new program to become certified as a SOCI Advance Care Directive Coaches. Training will include four classroom sessions and one-on-one training with a SOCI Patient Activation Coach.  The role of the volunteer is to work with community members in working through their living wills, medical durable power of attorney or Five Wishes. Volunteers will be trained through four classes and then begin working in the community along with a trainer until they feel comfortable working on their own.  Volunteers will be asked to commit to no more than two visits a month.

How do I get involved or help my staff to get involved?  The first step is to simply volunteer for training in advance care planning. SOCI’s first class starts on Thursday, July 21, 2016, at SOCI’s office (1175 58th Ave., Greeley, CO  80634) from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Lunch is provided.  There are also many other opportunities to get involved beyond volunteer visits that work with your work schedule.

If you are interested in learning more about this program or referring a patient for a FREE home visit to have a conversation about end of life, please contact SOCI at 970-449-6840 or email Dr. Gillespie at jgillespie50@me.com.