Articulate Your Personal Choices Before a Health Crisis Occurs
ThedaCare At Home will provide advance care planning classes the third Thursday of every month beginning on Thursday, June 15, from 5- 6:30 p.m. at Encircle Health, 2500 E. Capitol Drive, Appleton. The classes will be in the third-floor conference room. The public and ThedaCare staff are invited to attend the sessions.
“ThedaCare is committed to helping every individual articulate their personal choices before a health crisis occurs,” said Teri Metropulos, manager of hospice services for ThedaCare At Home. “We never know when we’re going to have a health crisis. We encourage everyone from age 18 to 88 to have an advance directive in place. The conversations can be difficult, but they’re so important.”
The classes will include information about why advance care planning matters and help participants complete their own Power of Attorney for Health Care. The facilitators are certified through Honoring Choices Wisconsin, an initiative from the Wisconsin Medical Society to improve the processes for advance care planning across the state.
“With the creation of the new Fox Valley Advance Care Planning Partnership, ThedaCare uses the same community advance directive document other community healthcare providers use in our area,” said Metropulos. “That means that wherever someone goes in the region, their advance directive will be honored. For many people the hardest step is the first one – putting their wishes down on paper. That’s where we can help.”
If you would like to attend the class, call 1.800.23.2236 or register online at thedacare.org under the classes link. Drop-ins are also welcome.
For more than 100 years, ThedaCare™ has been committed to finding a better way to deliver serious and complex healthcare to patients throughout Northeast Wisconsin. The organization serves over 200,000 patients annually and employs more than 6,700 healthcare professionals throughout the region. ThedaCare has seven hospitals located in Appleton, Neenah, Berlin, Waupaca, Shawano, New London and Wild Rose as well as 32 clinics in nine counties. ThedaCare is the first in Wisconsin to be a Mayo Clinic Care Network Member, giving our specialists the ability to consult with Mayo Clinic experts on a patient’s care. ThedaCare is a non-profit healthcare organization with a level II trauma center, comprehensive cancer treatment, stroke and cardiac programs as well as a foundation dedicated to community service. For more information, visit www.thedacare.org or follow ThedaCare on Facebook and Twitter.