Testimonials
MDs:
"The curriculum is able to train specialist-level facilitators who can reliably manage patients' advance care planning needs. Respecting Choices benefits every member of the healthcare team."
Jerry Barker, MD
US Oncology
Fort Worth, TX
"Thank you so much for your outstanding presentations. I just finished looking at the statistical analysis of the evaluation responses from the participants. 100% said it would be helpful to them in their practices. The overall score in which 1 equals excellent and 5 equals poor was 1.38. The conference ranks among our top ten in the 20 years we have been holding conferences. Your talk on Facilitating ACP Discussions was the most highly rated among all the sessions. They want us to bring you back."
Alvin H. Moss, MD
Professor of Medicine, and Director, Center for Health Ethics and Law Section of Nephrology
Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center
West Virginia University
"The best approach to boost utilization is an initiative such as Respecting Choices ... combining grassroots education, a uniform system of documentation, and coordination among sites of care."
Muriel Gillick, MD, New England Journal of Medicine, 2004
RNs:
"The training was great. It was wonderful to see the participants tranform their practice overnight and see the light bulbs go on."
Sandy Schellinger, RN BSN CHPN
Director of Allina Palliative Care
Allina Health System
Minneapolis, MN
"What a great experience! I have cared deeply about advance directives for over a decade and have experienced mounds of barriers and years of frustration in trying to make them stand for something within our system. This course has handed us all the tools and skills needed to accomplish the many layers of cultural change that will bring about success. At last, a program that will change the way we hear the voices and honor the choices of the citizens we serve."
Jane Dinnen, RN
Advance Care Planning Coordinator
Munson Medical Center
Traverse City, MI
"The Respecting Choices training gave all of us a progressive model to integrate advance care planning statewide in our healthcare and hospice facilities, and in our local communities. Having all the trainers complete the instructor Certification increased both the competency and confidence level of everyone involved, and was definitely worth the extra time. Based on all the positive evaluation we received, we whole-heartedly endorse the Respecting Choices advance care planning trainings."
Gwynn Sullivan, RN, MSN
Director, North Carolina Community Outreach
The Carolinas Center for Hospice and End of Life Care.
“As a novice, the on-line advance care planning facilitation training proved to be an ideal method for learning. The opportunity to complete the modules on-line prior to the classroom session afforded me the opportunity to have the time to reflect on the information, principles, and simulations presented. The follow up classroom session, including the ability to practice the principles was very engaging.”
Beth Otto, RN, Coordinator
Care Management / Clinical Improvement
Aurora Healthcare
“It’s great to work with colleagues from different health systems and community settings. Our last class included participants from Santa Cruz, Southern California, and Arizona. To hear others’ ideas and share our passion for helping people advocate for the care they want is truly inspiring.”
Chris Evans, RN, MSN
Co-Chair of The Compassionate Care Alliance
Sacramento, CA
From “Voices” by Sacramento Healthcare Decisions, Spring 2005.
“The Respecting Choices curriculum definitely helped our case managers become more skilled in facilitating treatment preference discussions with their clients.”
Jan Van der Mei, RN
Continuum Case Management Director
From “Voices” by Sacramento Healthcare Decisions, Spring 2005.
"Advance Care Planning is a process that must be learned, not simply taught. The Respecting Choices curriculum provided our team a comprehensive yet practical learning experience to guide us in customizing an advance care planning program for our community."
Sally Okun, RN, BSN, MMHS, Director, Center for Life Care, Planning & Support, Hospice & Palliative Care of Cape Cod
“The Respecting Choices advance care planning online training was an excellent way to be prepared to do advance care planning with clients and also teach others about the importance of doing advance care planning for all adults. Doing most of the training online afforded you the freedom to go at your own pace and opportunity to access the modules when most convenient. Also, having gone through the complete online curriculum, and then being able to reflect on the material, made the face-to-face classroom day much more productive and interactive for participants. For a person receiving advance care planning training for the first time, it was a wonderful experience!”
Jeff Luecke, Parish Nurse
Aurora Healthcare/St. Michael's Catholic Church
Social Workers:
"Combining online learning that follows adult learning principles with a classroom session that assists in integrating concepts by providing exchange of ideas and practice of skills seems to bring us the best of both worlds. The online portion is well written and technologically superior to courses I have investigated. Please feel free to contact me to talk about the new Respecting Choices course."
Anne K. Moore, LMSW, Director of Education and Partnerships, Texas Partnership of End-of-life Care, phone: (512)453-9600
“The Respecting Choices on-line modules immediately impacted my practice. The modules helped me to question how I was currently approaching advanced directives. Our systems well intentioned push to "get the documents completed and in the chart" faded as I read/learned more throughout this process. The way I had been pursuing advanced directives felt unethical. My approach now is more thorough, the pace has slowed and patients are positively responding. My experience with Respecting Choices was well worth the time invested.”
Heidi Blumberg, LCSW
Geriatrics Institute
Milwaukee, WI
"After receiving the Respecting Choices® training, I was called by one of our cardiologists. He asked me what I thought about a 92-year old patient of his who had been asking for three years to have her pacemaker removed. That patient had called her relatives and asked them to come for the surgery to remove the pacemaker, but the cardiologist was not comfortable with this decision. I felt prepared to address the issues. It was great to have the words to talk to the doctor, the patient, and the family about quality of life and respecting choices of patients. The patient was Vietnamese and did not want to die with the pacemaker inside her body. It was removed and the patient died well after the surgery. Afterwards, the cardiologist expressed a wish for more information about advance care planning and how he and his patients could become more informed."
Carmen Castillo
Manager of Social Workers
San Jose Medical Center
San Jose, CA
Chaplains:
"Gundersen Lutheran's program on advance care planning presented us with a new paradigm for providing compassionate, patient-centered care. I consider Gundersen Lutheran's successful, research-based program to be the gold standard for practice--one that is very compatible with Aurora Health Care's own service standards. As a chaplain, I find the ACP process and document to be very mindful of the whole person; the inclusion of emotional, cultural, and spiritual values in the document help us, as health care providers, to honor that person's life and death. The comprehensive training prepared us well as we adapt the program to our various sites. I especially appreciate the continued support we receive from Linda and other members of the Gundersen Lutheran team."
Chaplain Peg McGonigal
Aurora Health Care of Wisconsin
Professionals:
"Since I don't have a clinical background, I was concerned that the course material might be difficult to grasp. Instead, I found your online modules and practical classroom experience to be well-designed, with concepts that I could understand. You've made a difficult subject approachable, and presented the material in a way that was comprehensive without being overwhelming. At the end of the class, I felt confident that I could provide an informed and positive experience for an individual or family pursuing advance care planning."
Julie Martin
Communications Manager
John D. Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA
"The training course offers an excellent understanding of the different facets of advance care planning, how to instruct others, and it provides excellent teaching materials. Bud Hammes and Linda Briggs model different teaching strategies in their presentations and their interactive approach creates a memorable learning opportunity."
Shawn V. LaFrance
Vice President, Foundation for Healthy Communities
Concord, New Hampshire
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