Connect with us

Health

Advance Care Planning: Preparing for Your Future Healthcare

Published

3 minute read

Are you prepared?

All Albertans should prepare for a possible scenario where they may be unable to make their own medical decisions, especially if they are older or have chronic or serious illness.

If you became seriously ill, would your family, caregivers and healthcare providers know how you would want to be cared for? Who would speak for you if you were too sick to speak for yourself?

Learn more about advance care planning.

Advance Care Planning

A way to help you think about, talk about and document wishes for health care in the event that you become incapable of consenting to or refusing treatment or other care.

You may never need your advance care plan – but if you do, you’ll be glad that it’s there and that you have had these conversations, to make sure that your voice is heard when you cannot speak for yourself.

Goals of Care Designation

A medical order used to describe and communicate the general aim or focus of care including the preferred location of that care.

Although advance care planning conversations don’t always result in determining goal of care designation, they make sure your voice is heard when you cannot speak for yourself

Medical Care icon

Medical Care

Focuses on medical tests and interventions to cure or manage a person’s illness, but does not use resuscitative or life support measures.

Comfort Care

Comfort Care

Focuses on providing comfort for people with life-limiting illness when medical treatment is no longer an option.

Resuscitative Care

Resuscitative Care

Focuses on prolonging or preserving life using medical or surgical interventions, including, if needed, resuscitation and intensive care.

Learn about Goals of Care Designation ordersIf you can’t speak for yourself, your Goals of Care Designation helps the healthcare team match your values and preferences to care that is right for you and your healthcare condition.

Personal directive: Choose your decision-makerYour personal directive is a legal document. It names someone you trust to make important decisions for you if you can’t make these decisions yourself.

Keep advance care planning documents in a Green SleeveThis is a plastic pocket that holds your advance care planning forms.

Resources | video libraryGet more information on advance care planning and find more resources to help you or explore our video library.

 

Red Deer Primary Care Network (RDPCN) is a partnership between Family Doctors and Alberta Health Services. Health professionals such as psychologists, social workers, nurses and pharmacists work in clinics alongside family doctors. In addition, programs and groups are offered at the RDPCN central location. This improves access to care, health promotion, chronic disease management and coordination of care. RDPCN is proud of the patient care offered, the effective programs it has designed and the work it does with partners in health care and the community. www.reddeerpcn.com

Follow Author

Addictions

Addiction Recovery: City hosting full day information session on “Recovery Oriented Systems of Care”

Published on

Embracing Recovery Together

Come together in Red Deer for a one-day conference focused on building an understanding of what a Recovery Oriented System of Care is, and what implementation can look like for Red Deer specifically.

Join industry, not-for-profits, government, and interested members of our public to learn, grow, build and start a journey towards recovery.

The word “recovery” can have various meanings in various contexts. For the purposes of an ideal coordinated response, it means helping individuals maintain forward momentum toward better wellness and fulfillment, across all dimensions of their life – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and culturally.

When:

Wednesday, October 4 – 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Where:

Westerner Park (4847A 19th Street)

Event Details:

  • 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. – Breakfast & Registration
  • 8:30 – 9:15 a.m. – Welcome & Opening Prayer with Mayor Ken Johnston and Elder Lynn Jonasson
  • 9:15 – 10:15 a.m. – Opening Plenary: Let’s Get to Work with Alison Jones Webb
  • 10:15 – 10:30 a.m. – Coffee break
  • 10:30 – 11:15 a.m. –  Breakout Option #1: What is Recovery, Recovery Capital and Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) with Paul W. Sobey, MD
  • 10:30 – 11:15 a.m. – Breakout Option #2: Understanding Trauma and Behaviour with Elicia Miller
  • 11:15 – 11:30 a.m. – Break
  • 11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. –  Breakout Option #3: Conversation with Elder Lynn Jonasson
  • 11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – Breakout Option #4: Panel discussion with Kath Hoffman, Reed Charbonneau, Ben Borger, Samantha Shortneck and Sarah Fleck
  • 12:15 – 1 p.m. – Lunch break
  • 1 – 3:30 p.m. – Afternoon Keynote: “Whole of Society Approach” to Recovery with Dr. Alina Turner
  • 3:30 – 4 p.m. – Closing remarks with the Honourable Dan Williams, Minister of Mental Health and Addiction

More information about the facility, including directions, can be found here: https://westernerpark.ca/

More information about Red Deer, hotels, what to do, and restaurants, please visit Tourism Red Deer

Thank you to the Government of Alberta for providing financial support for this event. For more information about the Provincial Government’s approach, please read the report here: Toward an Alberta Model of Wellness

*Note: If the cost of the conference is a barrier to attending, please reach out to [email protected] and we would be happy to work with you to ensure everyone has the opportunity to attend.

Learn more and register

Speaker Bios

Continue Reading

Mental Health

Mental Health, MAID, and Governance in Trudeau’s Canada

Published on

DAN KNIGHT

 The Opposition with Dan Knight

A Critical Examination of Governance, Ethical Implications, and the Search for Compassionate Solutions in a Nation in Crisis

The mental health crisis in Canada, deepened and exacerbated under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership, has laid bare the stark realities and the fundamental cracks in our national mental health support structures. The haunting statistics released by the Angus Reid Institute have catapulted this crisis to the forefront of national discourse, but it seems that the ramifications extend far beyond mere numbers. Approximately 80% of Canadians are grappling with the inadequate availability of mental health resources, and the governmental response, or lack thereof, has amplified this concern.

Under Trudeau’s regime, the pervasive decline in mental health has not only been met with superficial commitments but has also seen the advancement of policies that many argue are an affront to the sanctity of life and individual liberty, namely, the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) legislation.

The Trudeau administration, amidst the throes of a profound mental health crisis, had pledged a seemingly substantial $4.5 billion over five years to address mental health care during the 2021 federal election. However, the tangible execution of this commitment remains elusive, with the funds ostensibly being absorbed into broader health care allocations. A dire need, once seemingly acknowledged, now seemingly diluted in priorities.

It’s in this same disconcerting timeframe that the contentious discussions around MAID have intensified. The proposed legislative modifications seek to expand the eligibility criteria to include individuals whose sole medical condition is a mental illness. This proposition has resulted in a fierce national debate and has amplified concerns over the values and the ethical compass guiding our nation’s leadership.

While the inception of MAID in 2016 found support among 64% of Canadians, the broadening of its scope to include mental illnesses has sparked widespread hesitation and reflection on its ethical implications. A mere 28% of Canadians support allowing those with only a mental illness to seek MAID. This shift in public sentiment is indicative of a collective realization of the complex moral, ethical, and societal implications of such a policy in a nation already strained by a lack of mental health support.

There’s an unsettling correlation between the difficulties in accessing mental health care and the support for the expansion of MAID. Two in five Canadians who’ve encountered barriers in accessing mental health care express support for the inclusion of mental illnesses in MAID eligibility. This correlation rings alarm bells about the level of desperation and despair fueled by inadequate mental health resources and support.

The MAID legislation, particularly its proposed expansion, is symptomatic of a deeper, more entrenched disregard for life and liberty. The policies and legislation emanating from Trudeau’s administration seem to foster an environment where the value of life is underplayed, and individual freedoms are undervalued. Rather than addressing the root causes and formulating holistic, compassionate solutions for mental health struggles, the government seems poised to offer an expedited escape route, overlooking the sanctity of life and the intrinsic rights of the individuals.

The urgency to address mental health challenges, especially those disproportionately affecting women, young adults, and lower-income households, is paramount. It requires genuine, sustained commitments and actions, far removed from mere electoral promises and rhetoric. The dialogue surrounding MAID, although crucial, risks overshadowing the fundamental issues at hand – the acute need for enhanced, accessible mental health care resources and a governmental ethos that values and preserves life and liberty.

In light of these pivotal concerns, this beckons a grave question to us all: Is this truly the Canada we desire? A Canada where, when faced with life’s vicissitudes, the solution provided by the government is simply to opt for MAID? Or do we yearn for a Canada that embodies hope, a belief that circumstances can, and will, improve? When 2025 arrives, the bell will indeed toll for Justin Trudeau and his Liberal compatriots, and we, as staunch Canadians, will need to rise to the occasion and answer this question. It’s a query not merely about policies or governance but about the very soul and essence of our great nation.

Subscribe to The Opposition with Dan Knight

Launched 4 months ago

I’m an independent Canadian journalist exposing corruption, delivering unfiltered truths and untold stories. Join me on Substack for fearless reporting that goes beyond headlines

 

Continue Reading

Trending

X