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A Note From The Project Coordinator

August, 2014

SAVE THE DATE!

Our next Light the Legacy Community meeting is:

Wednesday, September 3rd from 5:30 - 6:30.

We will meet at the Array Room at the St. Cloud Public Library.

THIS JUST IN!
Light the Legacy to start blogging!

Starting this week, Light the Legacy is proud to announce the addition of a blog to its internet presence. We desire to create another means to communicate our message to others. Our hope is to create a library of posts that becomes a searchable reference featuring important news, personal stories, events, and many other useful items. Be on the lookout for the new blog on our webpage at our website.

So Long Summer!

Lynn MacKenzie - Project Coordinator

It’s hard to believe but our summer is quickly coming to a close. I hope it has been a wonderful one for you so far. So many exciting things have happened here at Light the Legacy over the past few months. And, we anticipate many exciting events coming up this fall as well. I wanted to take a moment to highlight several of the larger ones for you.

NEW DIRECTIVE FORMS ARE HERE
After a great deal of hard work and dedication, Honoring Choices Minnesota has just released the updated "long" health care directive and the NEW "short" health care directive forms. You can check them out by clicking here, or at Light the Legacy very soon.

BIG CHANGES TO OUR ONLINE PRESENCE COMING
Speaking of our website - there has been a continuous momentum of add-on's and improvements. We’ve been working hard to streamline and organize the site to make it easier to navigate and have been adding features that we believe will help educate and keep those conversations going. Watch for many of those changes in the coming weeks. We have partnered with Jason Grabinger, from WriteWords. Jason is the guy behind the scenes helping to develop these improvements. We thank him for his expertise and passion for the need of advance care planning! Also, keep an eye out for our new Blog. You will be seeing our very first post this week!

LAST ADVANCE CARE PLANNING FACILITATOR CLASSES FOR 2014
Last, but certainly not least, check out our final two Advance Care Planning Facilitator classes for 2014. Nurses earn 17.8 CEU's and Social Workers earn 16.4 CEU's for this training! The final two classes will be held Oct. 7^th, 2014 and Nov. 18th, 2014. Download the registration form in the ACP Facilitator area of this newsletter and register TODAY! The deadline for registration is fast approaching an you DO NOT want to miss it!

Thank you! I'm looking forward to all that awaits Light the Legacy this fall and appreciate all of you working together with us to "Honor Life's Choices"!

-Lynn

Advance Care Facilitator Training

October 7, 2014 and November 18, 2014

Light the Legacy Training is Almost Here!

Advance care facilitator training is a phenomenal way to make an impact in the lives of other Central Minnesota families. By attending our training, you are able to partner with Light The Legacy to promote informed decision-making and positively impact end-of-life care. The training consists of a day-long class in which you are provided the tools needed to become a certified facilitator.

What does a facilitator do? Advance care planning facilitators...

meet with individuals and families to explain various end-of-life treatment options and interpret often-intimidating medical terms,
guide the conversation to important topics that may be difficult to discuss,
provide emotional support, making sure the experience is comfortable and positive for everyone involved,
play an important role in preparing the individual’s chosen healthcare agent,
provide information and resources, as needed,
assist in the completion of a health care directive, the document that outlines the health care values and desires for treatment expressed during the conversation,
impact the larger community by providing formal or informal education opportunities or coordinating advance care planning activities,
assist with the development and implementation of systems that support advance care planning and provide performance reviews to improve the quality of systems currently in use.

How do I sign up?
We welcome anyone to the training. To register, simply download the registration form here. Or click that big orange button below this article Then simply complete the form and mail, fax, or e-mail your registration with your payment and you will be all set. Remember, completion of the class is great for CEU's, and we even provide lunch! It's a phenomenal way to make a difference. We look forward to seeing you there!

REGISTRATION FORM HERE

Honoring Choices Minnesota Training

October 6-8, 2014

Honoring Choices registration for FirstSteps™ Advance Care Planning training opportunities is now open!

Scheduled for October 6-8, all courses are open to health & human services professionals and use the Respecting Choices^® curriculum and certification.

The FirstSteps™ Facilitator training is for any interested individual who wants to learn how to lead in-depth and effective ACP conversations with others. The Design & Implementation course is for any site/system who wishes to begin an ACP program within their organization. The Instructor Certification training is a more in-depth course that prepares those already trained as a Facilitator to teach others. For more information and online registration, visit Honoring Choices Minnesota at http://www.metrodoctors.com/dev/index.php/honoring-choices-mn/hcm-events-trainings.

New Health Care Directive Forms

August 2014

Honoring Choices Minnesota has created a new Health Care Directive “short form” and revised the original (“long”) form.

The new short form document offers more flexibility in meeting the needs of patients and other individuals. The original “long form” directive has been edited for easier use. Both directives can be downloaded at no cost from the Honoring Choices Minnesota website at http://www.metrodoctors.com/dev/index.php/healthcare-directives.

An easy-to-use online guide for both forms is also available at
http://issuu.com/honoringchoicesmn/docs/honoring_choices_2014_directives_in/1.

Please contact Honoring Choices MN at honoringchoicesmn@metrodoctors.com if you have any questions about their use.

Caring for Roger Ebert :
An Inspiring Documentary

When you suddenly find yourself thrust into the role of caregiver, how do you know what to do? Simple, says Chaz Ebert. You don't.

"You learn," says Chaz, the partner of the late, great film critic Roger Ebert for 24 years. She cared for him during a series of catastrophic illnesses, including cancers of the thyroid and salivary glands. "It was like being abandoned in a foreign country and you don't know the language, and you don't have any money, and you don't know anyone there and you just have to wing it," she says.

For more information about this inspiring documentary centered around end of life care, visit the website at http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2014-06/caring-roger-ebert-inspiring-documentary.

That's it for now! Get registered for our next ACP Facilitator class and I hope to see you at our next meeting on September 3rd!

Our Best to you and yours!

Working together to Honor Life's Choices,

Lynn MacKenzie

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Light The Legacy is a community-based organization dedicated to improving end-of-life care in Central Minnesota. Our organization hopes to inspire ongoing advance care planning conversations among family members and friends, between patients and health care providers, and in the community at large. Our goal is to encourage the people of central Minnesota to make informed health care decisions and to implement programs that facilitate patient- and family-centered end-of-life care.
Light The Legacy works in collaboration with Honoring Choices Minnesota.

Contact Us: http://lightthelegacy.org/contact/

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