End of Life Education is the name decided on for the meetings and activities presented by a volunteer group of concerned community members who want to complete their lives with the same quality and responsibility as they lived.
We will be meeting the next two consecutive Mondays in June, June 17 and 24, to make certain that the needed paperwork to die is perfectly completed by each person attending. The time will be 1 p.m. and we will be using the library’s large meeting room.
Tables will be arranged so everyone will have a work area. Coming to both sessions is the best, but if you can attend only one session you will be greatly helped. If you would like to bring cookies, coffee and tea will be available.
The plan is to use a small booklet available at Pagosa Springs Medical Center and at our meetings entitled “Your Right to Make Healthcare Decisions.” It was written by the Colorado Hospital Association and presents the topics accepting medical treatment, refusing medical treatment, living wills, resuscitation directives, substitute decision makers and medical guardians. Included in the booklet are three forms: medical power of attorney, living will and CPR directive.
One member will lead the reading and discussion. Questions and issues will be addressed before moving on through the booklet. We will cover each form which you can fill out in the group or take notes and do a final draft at home to bring back the following Monday.
After we have completed this booklet, we can decide if we need a lawyer to explain more to the group. Of course, an attorney is necessary to write wills and trusts, but it appears that the Colorado Hospital Association wants everyone, without cost, to be able to have filled out the necessary forms.
If you are not convinced these forms are needed watch the Netflix films called “Extremis” and “End Game.” They tell of people who have not made decisions themselves and have left it up to their families to decide after they are incapacitated. They were excellent at showing mistakes people made at the end of life. One woman spent her last six months in a coma, making no communication, but racking up a huge medical bill. I can’t imagine that having any quality. It makes you want to make sure you don’t make the same mistake. Filling out these forms is an important step to take.
Feel welcome to join us. This is a difficult topic which seems to go better with fellow humans joining together to deal with it.
Our next topic will be Colorado’s end-of-life statute, which covers access to medical aid in dying.
We will decide at these meetings when and how to present this subject.
I hope to see you on Monday, June 17, at 1 p.m. at our library.
