Harney County Home Health and Hospice will join a nationwide project by hosting a community event at Harney Hub (Senior Center) on Wednesday, April 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., which is to help engage communities in important conversations about medical decision making. The events, featuring the conversation toolkit from The Conversation Project, will provide information about how to prepare for future decisions about serious and critical health issues.

Volunteer Coordinator Chris Biederman, said, “This event will help you prepare for situations you may not have considered before. It makes conversations like these much more meaningful.”

The advance care planning topic can be difficult, but it is a necessary one to discuss. This community event will bring people together for a group discussion about living well and quality end-of-life care. Participants will receive information about medical decision-making and an advance directive that they may choose to complete. This event is a first step to advance care planning, and every participant will leave prepared to continue the conversation and take important steps to ensure their end-of-life care goals are known.

The Conversation Project event is part of a large national NIH-research study, funded by NIH and led by Lauren Jodi Van Scoy, M.D. at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, through her research program, Project Talk. The Hospice Foundation of America and the University of Kentucky are partners on the project. Participants who opt-in to participate will receive up to $90 in gift cards for their time.

Learning how best to engage individuals in advance care planning is crucial to improving access to high quality of care later in life or during a medical emergency. Harney County Home Health and Hospice will help the residents of Harney County think about their care goals and preferences and document them, so they can be honored and respected by family members and healthcare providers.

“Knowing what we and our family members would like beforehand can make difficult decisions easier when the moment is difficult,” said Biederman.

For more information, contact Chris Biederman at christine.biederman@harneycountyor.gov or call 541-573-8360.