Honoring Choices® Pacific Northwest, a collaborative initiative between physicians and hospitals, has partnered with national leader Gundersen Health to bring evidence-based advance care planning training directly to physicians, hospitals and communities to ensure they are prepared to discuss and honor patients' wishes.

We plan for major life events such as college, marriage and having children-yet when it comes to planning the last chapters of our life, people often do not discuss what kind of health care they want during this significant time. With this in mind, the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) and Washington State Medical Association (WSMA) created Honoring Choices Pacific Northwest with the vision that:

Everyone in Washington will receive care that honors personal values in the last chapters of life.

"Doctors and hospitals in Washington have come together with partners across the state-and now nationally-to promote conversations so that people in our region will receive care that meets their personal goals," said Joanne Roberts, MD, chair of the Honoring Choices Pacific Northwest Advisory Council and chief medical officer at Providence Health & Services Northwest Washington Region. "Every person-and every family, as defined by that person- has personal values that should drive their care. We aim to deliver care that fits those values."

Adds Dr. Roberts, "Our purpose is to change the way that we die in Washington."

Honoring Choices Pacific Northwest was launched in January by WSHA and WSMA with a website, www.HonoringChoicesPNW.org, designed to support both the public as well as care providers.

Learn more about Honoring Choices Pacific Northwest at www.HonoringChoicesPNW.org.

Herland Forest is a community-based, not-for-profit natural burial cemetery and stewardship forest in south-central Washington.

As an outgrowth of the  Windward Community's Sustainability Education and Research Center, Herland Forest is dedicated to learning, teaching and presenting wholesome alternatives to today's commercial, industrial burial practices.

To learn more about our Herland Forest and Windward please visit  www.herlandforest.org

Where: Gig Harbor Library
4424 Point Fosdick Dr. NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98335

Longtime Compassion & Choices of Washington Board member and retired lawyer Terry Barnett will discuss the basics of planning to avoid unwanted life-sustaining treatment near the end of life: directives to physicians, durable powers of attorney for health care, and POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment). He will also discuss directives for mental health treatment, and directives for care during dementia. Questions and answers to follow.  No reservations required. Visit http://compassionwa.org/events/ for more information.

Join us at the 2015 NHFA conference!

• CONNECT with your peers and build regional dialogs
• build your CONFIDENCE to serve and uphold families rights to care for our own after death
• nourish COURAGE to continue the work of your practices and take care of yourself

 

This week long community conference focuses on End of Life choices. Last years conference was a huge success with a wide reaching impact into the community and we hope for nothing less this year.

Mission of the Exhibit:
We hope to offer an opportunity for personal exploration of the topic and choices surrounding Death and Dying. 

By using many different points of interest as access points or doorways into the board subject of Death and Dying, we offer an opportunity for people of all comfort levels, learning styles, beliefs, cultures and understanding to enter into the subject with curiosity and comfort.