Seminar to give residents free, legal resource for making final wishes known
By LOIS KINDLE
Riverview resident Jeannie Hogan will present a free, one-hour seminar called Five Wishes at 1 p.m. Jan. 19 at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Sun City Center, about a down-to-earth, legal document that tells everyone involved in our end-of-life issues the decisions we want made on our behalf.
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
Most people find it difficult to discuss their own mortality or that one day they may become incapacitated and unable to make their own decisions. It’s often a talk we avoid until it’s too late.
“Now is the time to express what we want or don’t want,” said Riverview resident Jeannie Hogan, who is presenting a free, one-hour seminar called Five Wishes at 1 p.m. Jan. 19 at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Sun City Center. It’s about a down-to-earth legal document that tells everyone involved in our end-of-life issues the decisions we want made on our behalf.
“Each participant will receive a copy of the Five Wishes booklet to fill out,” Hogan said, adding that once it’s signed and witnessed, it’s binding in 42 states, including Florida. Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Utah require additional documentation.
Five Wishes does the following:
1. It lets your family or friends and your doctor and medical personnel know who is authorized to make your healthcare decisions when you can’t.
“It’s important to pick the right person to make those decisions,” Hogan said. “Often your closest relative is so emotionally distraught they may not be the best choice.”
2. It says what you want regarding life support if you’re close to dying; what decision should be made if you’re in a coma and not expected to wake up or recover; and any circumstance that you do not wish to be kept alive.
3. It states how comfortable you want to be when it comes to pain and other forms of suffering.
4. It specifies how you want people to treat you, including things like having them with you when death is imminent, if you’d like prayers said on your behalf and if you wish to die at home (if possible).
5. And it gives you the opportunity to tell your loved ones what you’d like them to know, how you’d like to be remembered, if you want to be buried or cremated and so on.
“Five Wishes really has a dual purpose,” Hogan said. “It’s for you as an individual so you can make the choices you want while you’re still able, and it provides instructions for the person you choose to manage your health care decisions.”
Hogan is quick to point out that Five Wishes is not a will.
“A will is for after you die,” Hogan said. “Five Wishes is for before you die. It should be given to your physician, hospital and healthcare advocate, not filed away in a closet or lockbox.”
By doing Five Wishes at a neutral time when emotions are not so highly charged, families can more calmly deal with end-of-life matters at a time when they most need solace, Hogan said.
“I think it’s terribly important for the person who is incapacitated and their family,” she continued. “This is the kind of thing that helps reduce the stress of (their) having to make decisions when they don’t know what their loved one wants. Five Wishes gives family members a chance to ask questions and express concerns ahead of time.”
In addition to the free copy of the Five Wishes booklet, Hogan will be handing out a HIPAA-compliant form supplied by the American Bar Association for the release of patient medical information.
Five Wishes was initially introduced in Florida in 1997 by Aging with Dignity, a Tallahassee-based nonprofit organization, with help from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It is available in 28 languages, including Braille. For more information, visit www.agingwithdignity.com.
To reserve a seat at the seminar, call the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church office at 813-634-1252. The church is at 1239 Del Webb Blvd. W., Sun City Center.