Stanley A. Terman received an A.B. from Brown
University; a Ph.D. from M.I.T.; and an M.D. from U. Iowa. A
board-certified psychiatrist who spent his first five years on the
faculty of U C Irvine, he is the founder and current leader of Caring
Advocates®. This non-profit organization’s team of clinical, legal, and
spiritual professionals is devoted to reducing the suffering of
terminally ill patients and their families.
Dr. Terman is the author of The
BEST WAY to Say Goodbye (2007) and Peaceful Transitions: Stories of
Success and Compassion; Plan Now, Die Later—Ironclad
Strategy (Second Ed., 2011); the creator of a new,
illustrated Advance Care Planning tool called My Way Cards or Natural Dying Living Will Cards
(2011-2) that uses plain, straightforward descriptions with almost no
medical jargon; and the developer of a series of strategic forms and
videos designed to convince others to honor patients’ Known Wishes. More
than a dozen videos explain this unique approach. (Visit the channel,
“Plan Now, Die Later-Peacefully” at www.YouTube.com/DrTerman.)
Caring Advocates specializes in focusing on solutions to the huge
challenge and burdens of Advanced Dementia. The chances are one in six
for those who reach the age of 55 will die with dementia. The goal is
overcome the challenges to Natural Dying, so that people can attain peaceful transitions
that are also timely; that is, neither prolonged nor premature.
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Helping
Clients Produce Advance Directives That Work
Most
people know they should make an Advance Care Directive, yet many do
not. Why? Here are two possible reasons. A) They do not really
understand the medical conditions and treatment choices. B) They are
not convinced that completing these forms will be effective or even be
available to clinicians when “that time comes”—if they no longer can
speak for themselves. Dr. Stanley Terman’s work over the past decade
has strived to fulfill the promise of Advance Directives. Briefly,
Caring Advocates’ program makes Advance Care Panning easy, effective, and
comprehensive.
--
Easy,
so the program can be used by those who have low health literacy or who
have already lost some cognitive functioning; for example, individuals
who have mild cognitive impairment, early dementia, or clouded
consciousness from high doses of pain-relieving medication. (Note: The
planning tool has been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Dutch, and
German.)
--
Effective,
so others WILL honor
patients’ Last Wishes—both rapidly and with no, or minimal conflict.
--
Comprehensive,
to effectively reduce these two great end-of-life fears: unbearable,
unending pain and suffering for days to weeks before dying, and being
totally dependent and a enormous burden with no awareness of the
sacrifice others are making while not being able to voice a complaint
that they are in pain of suffering as they linger in Advanced Dementia
for
months to years.
This
workshop introduces a method to help your clients avoid such conditions
so your clients can have peace of mind now that someday, their final
transition will be timely and peaceful.
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Essentials
1)
When:
Friday, October 26
8:00am-5:30pm,
(light snack served)
2)
Where:
Alliant International
University
One Beach Street
San Francisco
3)
Approval:
9 CE Hrs
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What
are the Benefits?
1)
Learn
how to help clients and their families plan for a
timely, peaceful transition — whether the diagnosis is Alzheimer’s, a
related dementia, or another terminal illness.
2)
Understand why “Natural Dying” can be a “compassionate
choice” that respects the moral code of most (even conservative)
religions.
3)
Experience a direct, hands-on experience as you make a
decision about each of the 48 symptoms, losses of function, unwanted
behaviors, and conflicts with lifelong values—one at a time. Generate
your own Natural Dying—Living Will. Learn about the various ways you
can administer the illustrated “My Way Cards/ Natural Dying Living Will
Cards” to your clients.
4)
Learn what forms you can add to create an “ironclad strategy”
to overcome a variety of challenges to Natural Dying so your clients
can feel confident that others will honor their Known Wishes. Then,
they will thus NOT need to consider premature dying to avoid future
suffering and burdens in a state they would dread, if prolonged.
5)
Offer this method to your past as well as your present
clients—even if they have an Advance Directive—by learning how to
evaluate the adequacy of their present forms to relieve pain and
suffering and lingering in dementia. (Note: the Natural Dying—Living
Will can be added to existing forms.) Be able to example the method’s
great potential “return on investment”: Invest a modest amount of
informed, structured, and diligent effort now to reduce a huge amount
of suffering in the future.
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