After watching a close friend struggle to navigate the healthcare system following a stroke, Louise begins thinking more seriously about what would happen if she faced a healthcare crisis of her own.
Louise is a retired schoolteacher living independently in Calgary. She has a full and meaningful life — good friends, wonderful neighbours, former colleagues she still keeps in touch with, and a beloved dog she walks every day. While she has a few nieces and nephews, she is not especially close with them. She has had meaningful relationships in the past, but is currently single and happy.
Like many people who are aging solo, there is one question Louise keeps coming back to:
If something happened to me, who would make decisions on my behalf?
Aging Independently and Planning for the Unexpected
Louise doesn’t have children, and while she has wonderful friends, she worries about asking too much of them. She also isn’t especially close with her extended family, leaving her uncertain who would truly be the right person to step into such an important role.
Louise reaches out to Plan Well Guide to inquire about their Serious Illness Support Service.
Working one-on-one with Dr. Daren Heyland, Louise completes a thorough Advance Serious Illness Plan, exploring her healthcare wishes, values, and goals around future care. Through the process, Louise realizes she would feel most comfortable asking her close friend Sandra to act as her Representative, with her niece named as a backup decision-maker if needed.
Together, Louise, Sandra, her niece, and Dr. Heyland meet to review Louise’s plans, discuss possible healthcare situations, clarify everyone’s roles, and help Sandra feel informed and supported in her role as Representative. She knows that Plan Well Guide’s Serious Illness Support Service will be available to her when needed and Louise and Dr. Heyland work with Louise’s lawyer to record these wishes and plans in her legal planning document. Louise now has an answer to her question as to the ‘who’ will support her during serious illness and enjoys tremendous peace of mind.
Each year, the support team reconnects briefly to review Louise’s plan and ensure it continues to reflect her wishes and current health situation.
Navigating a Healthcare Crisis with Support
Six years later, Louise slips on ice outside her apartment building and suffers a serious head injury. In the hospital, she is confused and unable to make healthcare decisions for herself. The medical team contacts Sandra and asks her to step in as Louise’s Representative.
Feeling overwhelmed, Sandra immediately calls Dr. Heyland from the hospital.
Dr. Heyland helps Sandra understand Louise’s condition, explains treatment options in plain language, and reviews Louise’s documented wishes and goals. Together, they work through difficult decisions with Louise’s values at the centre of the conversation.
Louise’s beloved dog, Bear, is not forgotten in all of this. During the planning process, Louise had already arranged for Bear to stay with a trusted neighbour — the dog-mom of his best canine friend — should anything happen.
Keeping Quality of Life at the Centre of Care
It is determined that surgery to relieve pressure on Louise’s brain aligns with the wishes and priorities she had carefully reviewed and updated earlier that year.
Over the following weeks in the ICU, Sandra continues receiving guidance and support from Dr. Heyland as additional healthcare decisions arise, including treatment decisions related to a post-surgical infection. Dr. Heyland helps Sandra prepare questions for the healthcare team, participates in discussions by phone and in person when appropriate, and helps ensure Sandra never feels alone carrying the responsibility.
As Louise begins recovering, it becomes clear she will need to spend a few weeks in a nursing facility to access 24/7 nursing support while further recovering. Sandra helps coordinate Louise’s care needs, while Dr. Heyland supports her in understanding the available options and ensuring the recovery plan aligns with Louise’s wishes and goals. Because of the conversations they had during the planning process, Sandra knows how important Bear is to Louise. She arranges regular visits with Bear in the garden of the care facility, bringing Louise comfort, motivation, and joy during her recovery.
Months later, Louise is back home recovering well — enjoying long walks with Bear and spending time with her good friend Sandra, grateful they did not have to navigate the healthcare crisis on their own.
This fictional scenario is inspired by common planning concerns faced by people aging independently.
