Utilize Tools to Develop Future Plan of Care

The best time to plan for your future care is before you have an identified need or medical crisis. While both of you are healthy and active, these conversations can be much easier. Putting a plan in place can give you both peace of mind as well as your loved ones. The best way to stay in control of your future care can begin with some basic documents that communicate both your and your husband’s individual wishes.

There are so many things that can fall under this topic, so let’s focus on some good starting points. This is a process, so take one step at a time and keep working toward a plan that meets your needs.  Planning care involves thinking about what you want, where you want it, when you want it, how you want it delivered and who you want to help ensure carries out your wishes. Once you make these decisions, work to gather all of the necessary information to pull your plan together, including: 

Planning Guides

There are some great planning guides available to start your conversation. One guide you may want to check out is at www.Prepareforcare.org. You can simply answer the questions online or print them out to work on over time.

Start the Conversation

When you sit down to have a conversation, take notes.  Think about where you hope to be in one year, five years and 10 years. What happens if one of you becomes ill and needs more care during that time? Write down the things that would be the most important to you.

Consider End-of-Life Wishes

Think carefully through end-of-life issues and planning. “Five Wishes” is a helpful document that can help you identify which questions are most important, and it is available online at: www.agingwithdignity.org/North-Carolina

Write it Down

Start to document important information that a person might need if acting on your behalf. You can update this over time as things may change. Update it at least once a year or when a significant change occurs. Click here to view or print a free planning guide online.

Take Action

Schedule an appointment with an attorney who specializes in elder law and estate planning. Do this now; you can always make changes down the road. What you invest in putting your Power of Attorney, Living Will and Last Will documents in place, will save you and your family in the long run.

Talk to a Financial Adviser or Accountant

Learn about the real costs of long-term care and what might be realistic in your situation.  If finances are limited, you can begin looking at what funding may be available when you require more care. This can help guide your decisions and answers to question No. 2.

Ask a Professional

If you are having trouble getting yourself or your spouse to really sit down and take a realistic look at planning ahead, get an Aging Life Care Professional™ involved. You can locate a professional in all 50 states at  www.AgingLifeCare.org, and they are trained to help you create an individualized plan to support your wants and needs.

Once you have started working through some of the above steps, other things may become evident that prompt further conversations.

As a married couple, it becomes important to think about how these decisions might change if something were to happen to one of you. If you have adult children who may influence any of your future care decisions, you may want to pull them into the conversation at some point.

The more you communicate, discuss, research and identify care options, the more you are empowered to make the best decisions to keep your specific needs at the center of the plan. Life is a journey, and even the best plan may not account for every situation. However, the conversations you have in developing the plan enable you to adapt as life happens and develop the support network you need along the way.