“Advance Care Planning: Have ‘The Talk'” is the focus of April’s Aging Insights

Episode airs in conjunction with a NJ virtual Town Hall

on National Healthcare Decisions Day, April 16

Trenton, NJ (April, 2021) – April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day. Have you determined your healthcare wishes? Have you shared them with loved ones and your healthcare practitioners?

“Advance Care Planning: Have ‘The Talk,’” the April episode of Aging Insights TV now airing, will help viewers understand the importance of being prepared. Guests are palliative and geriatric physician Dr. David Barile, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Goals of Care Coalition of NJ (GOCCNJ), and Laurie Powsner, MSW, LCSW, a social worker and Director of Operations at Your CarePlan.

GOCCNJ is a non-profit partnership of leading healthcare providers, government agencies and community organizations dedicated to helping patients get the care they need and no less, and the care they want and no more. Your CarePlan helps people with medical decision-making and completing POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Therapies) forms.

Produced by NJ Advocates for Aging Well (NJAAW), and now in its 10th year, Aging Insights can be viewed on NJAAW’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/njadvocatesforagingwell, at njaaw.org and more than 70 public-access TV stations across NJ (check local listings for channels and times).

On “Advance Care Planning: Have ‘The Talk,’” Dr. Barile notes that the default of the medical system, “is to do everything to prevent death.” Laurie Powsner explains that people rarely ask, “What are the odds that this treatment will never work and what would happen if I didn’t do it?”

The guests will discuss the difference between the various advance care planning documents and resources that are helpful. “It’s a gift to your family to talk about [advanced planning] before you need it,” says Powsner. “We really need a culture change that should begin at the high school level in health class,” says Dr. Barile.

In addition to this Aging Insights episode, on April 16, which is National Healthcare Decisions Day, GOCCNJ, NJAAW, and New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute’s (NJHCQI) Conversation of Your Life (COYL) are hosting a free online Town Hall on advance care planning. The Zoom event takes place from noon to 1:15 p.m. and features Dr. Barile; NJAAW Board member Carl Archer, Principal, Archer Law Office, LLC, and Dapa D. Wilcox, COYL, NJHCQI. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EG29iM9_SYCjMTylNGdGRA.

In addition to his role with GOCCNJ, Dr. Barile is Director of Palliative Medicine Services and Medical Director of the Acute Care for the Elderly Unit at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center. He is also the Medical Director at Princeton Care Center Skilled Nursing Facility, Greenwood Hospice and Goldenview Memory Home. Dr. Barile was instrumental in designing the NJ POLST Form and is an active member of the National POLST Paradigm Task Force focused on improving the quality of patient care by creating a system that identifies patients’ wishes regarding medical treatment and communicates and respects them by creating portable medical orders.

In private practice, Powsner provides individual, couple and family counseling. She also consults with families about Aging in Place. She previously worked with hospice for 20 years. Powsner volunteers with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) and Meals on Wheels and is on the boards of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of New Jersey as well as Pennsylvania. She is a past president and board member of the national Funeral Consumers Alliance.

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About NJAAW

NJ Advocates for Aging Well (NJAAW, njaaw.org), formerly NJ Foundation for Aging, has been at the forefront of revolutionizing the aging experience since 1998. It is the only statewide nonprofit focused solely on providing leadership in public policy and education to enable older adults to live with independence and dignity in their communities. NJAAW’s social action issues include senior housing and hunger, elder economic security, older workers and transportation. The award-winning Aging Insights, a monthly topical TV program produced by NJAAW, connects caregivers, seniors and their families to community-based services and resources. The show is available on NJAAW’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/njadvocatesforagingwell, at njaaw.org and more than 70 public-access stations across NJ (check local listings for channels and times). NJAAW also presents educational forums and an Annual Conference (June 3-4, 2021) offering development opportunities and best practices for professionals entrusted with caring for seniors.