National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships
Veteran Community Partnerships
Northern California VCP focused on palliative care and hospice, shares about the importance of advance care planning
Chelsea Miller, the co-chair of the Sacramento Valley Veteran Community Partnership (VCP), started her career in palliative care and hospice as an intern, and watched as patients’ family members took on the emotional burden of having to decide how to help their loved one in a critical situation without the guidance of an advance directive.
An advance directive is a legal form about a person’s wishes regarding medical and mental health care. Doctors and loved ones use the form to make decisions about their care if they are unable to make decisions for themselves.
“I think about advance care planning as a gift to ourselves and to our loved ones, as a way to lessen anxiety around the end of life,” Miller said. “I know some people really benefit from having a plan, having something that they feel like they're able to communicate in advance. And for our loved ones, if they can’t speak to us because we're [the patient is] too sick, having some voice in the room can be so helpful when they're making decisions on our behalf.”
Miller decided to complete her own advance directive after witnessing the clarification and relief family members felt in an impossible time.
“It's one thing to have the conversation with your loved one,” Miller said. “It's another thing to sit down and write out your wishes and get the document notarized.”
Recently, the Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society presented to the VCP about Honoring Wishes, a new initiative established to lessen the stigma in discussing death, and to help families and individuals plan for end-of-life care. Since many of the VCP members work in end-of-life care, Miller knew the presentation would be beneficial to the VCP as an educational tool for health care providers, community partners, and Veterans.
“I've been in many family meetings where the Veteran is unable to attend because they're too sick or actively dying, or they are hooked up to a ventilator and cannot speak or interact,” Miller said. “The advance directive really helps to be their voice in the room. Is it important to them to be able to get out of bed and not be connected to a breathing machine for the rest of their life? Is it important for them to be able to communicate or recognize loved ones? And so, formalizing it can be such a gift to families.”
In recent years, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rolled out similar resources such as the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decisions Initiative (LSTDI) and advance care planning tools. There is also the We Honor Veterans Program through the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) in collaboration with VA, of which many of the members within this VCP are part.
VCPs are collaborations—and each is part of the larger VHA VCP initiative—that bring together community leaders, some of whom are Veterans, and organizations with VAMC programs to help Veterans access health care and supportive services at VA and beyond. The VCP initiative is a joint project of the VHA Geriatrics and Extended Care, National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships (HAP), and other VHA offices. VHA plans to have a VCP at each of the VAMCs by September 2024.
If you would like to learn more about VCPs, visit: https://www.va.gov/healthpartnerships/vcp.asp.
External Link Disclaimer: This page contains links that will take you outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs website. VA does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of the linked websites.
Posted January 24, 2022
