A collection of useful advance care planning related tools and resources for healthcare providers and consumers.
Related Training And Information
Widely used curricula supporting culturally congruent care (Building Bridges), Advance Care Planning, and Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST).
A web site designed to empower people to make decisions, talk with providers and get medical care that is right for them. Prepare for Your Care walks people through the basic steps in advance care planning and provides prompts and videos to help them get started.
Free, downloadable patient ACP booklet available in English and Spanish.
Evidence-informed training program and resources to promote person-centered care and ACP.
Caring Connections is a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) that provides free resources and information to help people make decisions about end-of-life care before a crisis. There are links to Advance Directives for all 50 states.
General material, definitions and explanations for Advance Care Planning. Printable Wallet Card. Links to other resources.
American College of Physicians
Document on Advance Care Planning Implementation for Practices
American Bar Association
Tool kit and handouts for approaching and completing Advance Directives. Includes sections on “How to Choose an Agent” and “Starting the Conversation,” plus links to state specific Advance Directives.
Conversation Tools & Guides
Heart to Heart® cards are a bilingual (Chinese/English) communication activity designed to make it easier to understand what people might prefer when their lives are threatened by injury or disease.
Go Wish cards from the Coda Alliance offer a non-threatening way to explore people’s preferences for care when seriously ill.
Stories for sharing, tools, and tips for initiating Advance Care Planning. The primary focus of the Conversation Project and their material is to help people overcome barriers to planning and to start talking to family and loved ones.
A guide from the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California
Ariadne Labs consolidates evidence-supported videos, tools and resources to support decision making for the seriously ill.
Learn how to take the first steps to begin the conversation. Work book and toolkit available. Information for community engagement and empowerment.
The website has information on the evidence-based conversation game Hello (formerly Gift of Grace) to assist people in discussing what matters most to them.
A free downloadable decision-making guide for patients and families facing serious illness with information and resources about care options, communication tips and coping at end of life.
Article: J Gen Intern Med. 2000 Mar; 15(3): 195–200.
Article: Managed Health Care Connect
Advance Care Planning Forms
The nonprofit Aging with Dignity provides people with the practical information, advice and legal tools including the popular, low cost and easy to use Five Wishes Advance Directive.
Prepared by The Commission on Law and Aging, American Bar Association.
Available online, this resource offers a simple way to document medical care you would want if you had dementia. Developed by Barak Gaster, MD with help from experts in the fields of geriatrics, neurology, and palliative care.
Available in English and multiple translations.
Information and patient resources on each state’s POLST efforts.
Videos
Five brief videos depict people as they reflect on their experiences with advance care planning, death and dying.
ACP Decisions Tools and videos by Dr. Angelo Volandes
Billing For Advance Care Planning
Web-based training for health providers presented by CSU Institute for Palliative Care and the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California.
Medicare Learning Network
Medicare Physician Fee Schedule policy governing ACP services, Pages 70955–70959
Coalition for Compassionate Care of California
Research/Reports/Studies
2014 Institute of Medicine consensus report on end-of-life care in the United States
California Health Care Foundation
John A. Hartford Foundation, Cambia Health Foundation and California Health Care Foundation.
John A. Hartford Foundation, Cambia Health Foundation and California Health Care Foundation.
Lake Research Partners and the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California
Bernacki RE, Block SD, for the American College of Physicians High Value Care Task Force. JAMA Intern Med.2014;174(12):1994-2003. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.5271