MHAC is continuing to collect and share updates on COVID-19 from state government, federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control, and other key stakeholders.
These updates are to help and inform a wide range of individuals and partners, including communities working to become more age- and dementia friendly.
The messaging and campaign are intended to shift the frame of advance care planning away from “end of life” and “life-sustaining treatment choices” towards goals of care, quality of life and shared decision making thus also bringing it into closer alignment with palliative care principles. Continue reading →
April is Healthcare Decisions Month and Honoring Choices MA has everything you need to host your own event or make a personal health care plan! Continue reading →
Talking with your loved ones openly and honestly, before a medical crisis happens, gives everyone a shared understanding about what matters most to you at the end of life. The Conversation Project has added kits translated to Chinese to help people have that talk with loved ones and doctors.
To recognize April as Healthcare Decisions Month, the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative became an Alliance Partner of Honoring Choices Massachusetts and will work on connecting their resources and Ambassadors to Age and Dementia Friendly Community efforts.
Here are a few easy ways to celebrate Healthcare Decisions Month: Continue reading →
Discussing end-of-life care planning with loved ones is inherently difficult and not usually thought of as humorous, but the Conversation Project has released a video that finds the funny side of how people attempt to bring up the subject.
The video – called “Practice Makes Perfect” – features a handful of subjects speaking into the mirror to practice how they would start the conversation of end-of-life care with their family members. It starts out with some well-meaning, but awkward attempts to raise the issue. While it begins with humor, the video concludes with some of the “best practice” suggestions for more successful ways to broach the matter.
See the video below and visit the Conversation Project’s website for their helpful toolkits.
Every competent adult, 18 and older, can download a free “Getting Started Tool Kit” to make your own health care plan. The Honoring Choices Community Partners across the Commonwealth will be hosting activities and events all month to help consumers make a plan and get connected to person-centered care in their community. Continue reading →
This report provides a brief snapshot of end of life care activity in Massachusetts since the 2010 report, identifies related themes and trends in MA health care institutions, and conveys current concerns and priorities for improving end of life care in the Commonwealth.