Advance Health Care Directives: What Really Happens?

End-of-life Decisions

Who will speak for you if you are too ill or hurt to express yourself?

What kinds of interventions might you want under different circumstances?

How will your doctor guide your health care?

What about CPR and the use of a DNR

What is new in end-of-life documents?

Whether you're 18 or 80+, documenting your wishes today means your family shouldn't have to make heart-wrenching decisions for you later. An Advance Health Care Directive provides a way for you to communicate your wishes to your family, friends and health care professionals and to avoid confusion later on.

Betsy Carpenter is a passionate champion of patients' rights. She has served as a KARA grief counselor and continues Advance Care Planning/Advance Directive work with El Camino Hospital. Betsy gives hundreds of presentations to Bay Area community members and is a volunteer lecturer about advance health care planning and ethical decision-making at the end of life at Stanford Medical School.

Betsy Carpenter's down-to-earth presentation will provide you with a roadmap for the preparation and use of Advance Directives, DNR's (Do Not Resuscitate Orders) and POLST's (Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment). This will be an educational and, dare we say, entertaining hour as Betsy guides us through how these important documents come into play in real life situations.

About our Guest Speaker

Betsy Carpenter's commitment to the community is exemplified by her volunteer work which may be summarized as follows:

National Ski Patrol: twenty-one years' service, retired, KARA counselor: ten years, retired; Advance Directives counsellor and lecturer: Health Resource Center, El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, CA, twenty years, current; Patient-to-patient Representative: Community and Patient Relations Department, Stanford University Medical Center, eleven years, retired; Adjunct Clinical Faculty, Family Medicine Clerkship, Stanford University Medical School, seventeen years, current; Instructor for Advance Directives: Primary Care Associate Program, Stanford University Medical Center, seventeen years, current; "Buddy" Program, Community Breast Health Project, twelve years, inactive; Committee member, El Camino Hospital Medical Ethics Committee, ten years, current; Member, Professional Practices Committee, California Coalition for Compassionate Care, eight years, current; Certified Advance Care Planning Facilitator, Gunderson Lutheran Medical Foundation, 2003.

Betsy's contact information is: Phone (650) 424-4395 or e-mail, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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