Planning Perspectives
Chapter 18: Have you done your advance care planning? Did you ‘erroneously’ sign up for comfort measure only?
It is likely you have heard the term ‘comfort measures only’ in the context of medical care and planning. Comfort care can be provided in a hospital, a long-term care home, a hospice, or at home and care focuses on managing symptoms. Comfort care sometimes called a...
Chapter 17: Do you know what your treatment preferences would be if you get seriously ill?
The whole goal behind Plan Well Guide is to help people clarify their values, provide information about the differences between ICU care, Medical care and Comfort care, and transparently connect one’s values to medical treatment options when they are seriously ill....
Chapter 16: Need a Nudge to Planning for a Brighter New Year? Learn More About our Planning Strategies!
With the advent of the New Year, many people make a point of setting New Year’s resolutions or goals. With the pandemic still raging around us, we would like to suggest that it would be wise to set a goal to visit www.planwellguide.com and complete your serious...
Chapter 15: This Year, Gift Your Loved Ones the Ultimate Present, the Gift of Planning
This holiday season may look and feel different from previous years with COVID-19 continuing to permeate people’s lives across the globe. Recent reports state 342,500 cases of COVID-19 in Canada1 and more than a quarter-of-a-million deaths south of the border, the...
Chapter 14: COVID & Caregivers – Learn more about how NOW is the time for strong caregiver rights!
The pandemic has caused a great deal of distress and suffering, globally. One of the reasons behind this is due to how vulnerable populations, such as older persons living in institutional settings were treated like prisoners and isolated to their rooms and ‘visitors’...
Chapter 13: Have you completed the legal aspects of advance medical care planning?
COVID-19 pandemic has caused tremendous social and economic upheaval. For many of us, it has been a wake-up call alerting us of the need to think and plan ahead for scenarios where either we or our loved ones get real sick. At Plan Well Guide, we want to help you...
Chapter 12: The Important Role of Advocacy: How do you know if you (or your loved one) is receiving the best medical care?
Many years ago, my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer by a local urologist in the small town he lives in. He was referred to a urologist in the larger center for consultation regarding surgery to remove the cancer. Working in medicine and having access to his...
Chapter 11: Long-term Care & Long-term Challenges
COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on older individuals living in long-term care (LTC) settings. The majority of deaths in most countries around the world have been in LTC settings (>80%).[i] This pandemic has highlighted the horrific problems with family...
Chapter 10: The Journey of Plan Well Guide: From the early days, to the results of a randomized trial, to our continued support of people facing serious illness (like COVID-19)
Given the current climate, with COVID-19 continuing to dominate the news headlines, we wanted to take a moment to lighten the mood by sharing a background story around how and why Plan Well Guide began years ago. Things sure have changed in half a decade, we’ve gone...
Chapter 9: Preparing for Future Periods of Incapacitation
At times like this, aren’t you glad that we’ve learned from past viral pandemics and we have a Federal Government and Public Health Agency that are prepared to deal with the current crisis? Preparation, communication and coordination are the keys to navigating through...