What is End-of-Life Planning?

End-of-life planning is exactly what it sounds like.  Plans made for you by you to help your loved ones  at the end of your life.  Whether you are young or a little more seasoned, it's never too early to make plans.  Doing so can help you and your family be better prepared for things to come. Making a formal plan to help take the guess work out of what you may want at the end of life may sound a little scary but it can actually be very helpful.  Knowing exactly what you want and communicating that with your loved ones my actually alleviate some of the stress that comes with death; like funeral plans, body disposition, and even what outfit you want to wear. 

In addition, an end-of-life plan can include comfort and care preferences meaning how much if any medication you would like to receive, as well as medical interventions for life sustaining treatment.  Dementia or Alzheimer and other illness addendums can be added to ensure your loved ones know how you want things to go.   It even includes specific funeral requests i.e. home funeral, cremation, green burial requests and many other things. 

Sometimes a person's inability to express wants and needs clearly when we get to the end of our lives place unintentional burdens on our loved ones.  Planning ahead can assist when they are faced with making tough decisions.

It can feel uncomfortable making these preparations while your loved one is still alive, but the goal is ultimately to give you a sense of peace once complete.  It provides clear instructions and wishes so your family and loved ones won't be left questioning if they have made the right decisions for you.  In a sense, you can think of it as a parting gift to them because your planning has helped to alleviate some of the possible stress during the-end-of life experience. 

Have you ever had to make final plans for someone and had no idea what the person wanted?  Have you attended a service of a person that was the complete opposite of the who the person was in life?  The goal of end-of-life planning is to help reduce a lot  the guess work out that can come at the end of life when provisions have not been made ahead of time.

Just think about what happens when a short fused task comes up...now imagine that feeling when trying make final plans after a loved one has died.  Planning ahead is a vital in preventing those overwhelming feelings.