Each week a new Module will open up. At the end of the 8 weeks, you’ll have access to go back to any section and re-watch as many times as you want.

The cost of the program includes lifetime access. I know you are busy and may be interrupted. I want you to be able to log back in at any time and re-watch a video or look at the resources that go along with it as you need to.

Inside the course you can reply to the emails I send to you each week if you have questions or feedback about what you are learning. I will answer as best I can there via email. Who knows, maybe it will inspire me to add another video training into the program. In full transparency, if you ask me a question which requires a lot of back and forth communication, or I feel an actual conversation is needed because it is too specific to your unique situation, I may tell you I can not answer without us having a formal phone consultation which is a service I offer only to course clients.

Watching the lessons each week will be about an hour, no more than two. Implementing some of the action items may take up more of your time, and will vary depending on your person’s medical history, but will be well worth the effort. You’ll have lifetime access to the program so there is no rush to finish it within the first 8 weeks.

That is entirely up to you. The plan is for you, the decision maker. You can discuss it with family or your person if they are able and willing. Your person’s doctors should know their overall goal of care. You will likely have to tell them. They will not always ask. When decisions need to be made you can bring along your plan and use it to help you have a conversation with your person’s care team. The plan does not go inside your person’s medical record. It is not a legal document you have to file anywhere. It is for you to use to keep yourself organized and to make sure the treatments you are choosing line up with what your person would choose for themselves. It will help you advocate and know whether or not a treatment you are being offered is in line with your person’s goals.

Yes, absolutely. I have never read a Living Will or other healthcare directive which told me how to treat a patient in the ER (unless they were clearly dying). Advance directives are not a plan and simply are not enough. People rely on them too much. This is why what I am teaching you is needed. The Medical Decision Plan you create inside this program is in addition to your person’s advance directives. What you do inside this course is for you. You do not turn it into your person’s medical care team or their attorney. You use what you learn on their behalf when making decisions for them alone or with your family.

If you are your person’s legally declared medical decision maker (on a legal document such as a medical power of attorney form) it is up to you to make their healthcare choices. You can use what you learn here to support your decision making and explain to your family the WHY behind the decisions you are making. The same applies if your person did not declare someone as their decision maker and you have a legal right to make their decisions as their spouse/partner or a child. If you are part of a group of people deciding what to do on behalf of someone, you may not be able to make the final call, but this program will teach you to speak to the rationale behind what you are advocating for and will help you get your point across to your family and to the medical team.

This is common and normal. Do not expect the person living with dementia to discuss their future medical care. They may not be able to handle the complexity or the emotions of a conversation like this. I advise going at it in bite sized chunks and asking them one question at a time. You can make all of the decisions inside this program on their behalf speaking for them. You do not need to be able to discuss the decisions with them ahead of time in order to choose on their behalf. 

Making medical decisions is hard, I know. I help people make tough choices every day. If it stresses you out now, it will be worse when you have to do it in real time, especially in the ER or the hospital. Take the time now to figure things out and you won’t regret it. Planning for the future does not just give you peace of mind. It also empowers you. It forces you to learn, which translates into the ability to make informed choices. As a result you feel more in control. As a bonus, the knowledge you gain can be used repeatedly for the rest of your life. Use it to help yourself in planning, or to advocate for other family, friends, or people in your community.

Yes! This is my passion. I love boiling things down into simple language that people can understand. I have to do this on a daily basis in the ER when people are under stress. One of my favorite things about what I do is the feeling I get when I realize the person is clear on what is going on and what our plan is. I put things into plain language while still teaching you words you will want to know so you can better communicate with medical professionals.

Nope, I am giving you what you need to know to be able to make the most common medical decisions you will be faced with plus a process to follow when asked to make a decision about any other medical situation. If you follow the process laid out in the course I am confident you will feel well prepared to make your person’s medical decisions using the plan you create and what you learn.

Yes! I have broken the course up into the sections I deliver to you for this reason. This is also why I recommend taking it week by week learning and implementing as you go. You can absolutely do this. I am sure you have had to make many hard decisions in your life and some under stress. Think back to those, they are not as easy and leave room for more second guessing. Not learning about what is likely to happen to your person and being left to decide on medical treatment options in crisis mode is going to be harder than taking action while going through this course.

When you enroll in the program you will be sent an email from Thinkific to sign up with a user name and password and then can immediately get started on Module 1.