Final Exodus
Your Life. Your Terms. Your Plan.
Final Exodus
Your Life. Your Terms. Your Plan.
Your Life. Your Terms. Your Plan.
Your Life. Your Terms. Your Plan.
“Planning for the end of life is not about predicting the future. It is about making your wishes known while they are yours to express.”
— Final Exodus
Begin by learning about the end-of-life choices and planning tools available to you. Explore this website at your own pace, and visit our Resources section for additional information and materials.
Learn about advanced care options that might include palliative care or hospice care, dementia planning, medical aid in dying (MAiD), and other end-of-life considerations.
If you’re unsure where to begin, the Go Wish Cards can help you identify and think about what matters most to you when considering future health care and end-of-life wishes. The cards are available both online and in a printed version.
As you learn, consider your own wishes, values, and priorities. What matters most to you? What would you want the people closest to you to understand about the care you would—or would not—want near the end of life?
These thoughts can become the foundation for the conversations and advance care planning that follow. Remember: Your life. Your wishes. Your plan.
End-of-life planning is deeply personal, but it does not have to be explored alone. Talking with people you trust can help you clarify what matters most to you—and help those closest to you understand your wishes before they are ever asked to speak on your behalf.
What should you talk about?
Talk about what matters to you. Share what you have learned, what you value, what concerns you, and what you would—or would not—want if you could no longer make or communicate health care decisions for yourself.
You might talk about what quality of life means to you, what kinds of medical care you would want, what circumstances might change those wishes, and whom you would trust to speak for you.
You do not need to resolve everything in one conversation. These discussions can unfold over time and change as your health, circumstances, or priorities change. Your wishes may evolve. A change in health, diagnosis, relationship, living situation, or simply your perspective may give you a reason to revisit your plans.
Review your advanced healthcare, directive, periodically, talk again with the people who matter to you, and make changes when your wishes change.
The most meaningful conversation may be with the person who knows you well, understands your values, and whom you trust to hear what matters to you.
If you’re unsure how to begin, conversation tools such as the Go Wish Cards, The Conversation Project, and the Caring Conversations workbook can provide questions and prompts to help get the conversation started. Links to these and other planning tools can be found in our Resources section.
After learning about your options and talking with the people you trust, the next step is to put your wishes in writing.
The people closest to you can only honor your wishes if they understand what those wishes are. Putting them in writing provides clarity and guidance if a time comes when you cannot speak for yourself.
An Advance Health Care Directive allows you to document your health care wishes and name someone you trust to speak for you if you are unable to make or communicate health care decisions yourself.
Visit our Advance Directives section to learn more about choosing a form, naming a health care agent, and documenting what matters to you.
A document can record your choices. The people who know you can help preserve the meaning behind them.
Once you have completed your Advance Health Care Directive, share copies with your health care agent, physician, and health care providers, and ask that it be added to your electronic health record so it is available when needed. An Advance Directive is meant to be shared—not tucked away where no one can find it.
Review your advanced healthcare, directive, periodically, talk again with the people who matter to you, and make changes when your wishes change.
You may know someone who could benefit from thinking about their own advance care planning—a parent, relative, friend, or someone else you care about.
Starting that conversation can sometimes feel awkward. Talking about serious illness, incapacity, or the end of life may even feel negative or uncomfortable. But advance care planning is not about expecting something bad to happen. It is a practical matter of life—and an act of love.
Talking about your wishes is a gift to the people who care about you. It gives them the knowledge they may one day need to honor your choices. It is also a gift to them: instead of leaving those you love with the burden of wondering what you would have wanted, you have given them the clarity to know.
The conversation does not need to begin with answers or decisions. It can begin simply: What matters most to you? Who would you trust to speak for you? What kinds of care would you want—or not want—if you could no longer speak for yourself?
Having your wishes documented—and making sure the right people know and understand them—provides clarity for everyone involved. When the people who may one day speak for you understand your wishes, they are better prepared to honor them.
Extensive recent medical research clearly indicates that with a good lifestyle you can prevent developing Alzheimer’s disease. What life style changes? (As many as you can do; the more, the better.)
This list is taken from a class on prevention given at the San Diego Community Colleges in the fall of 2022. You can get similar information from this YouTube video: Ten tips to prevent Alzheimer's, Melissa Batchelor. There are others.