Honoring Choices Minnesota

12/30/2021

As Honoring Choices Minnesota's programming comes to a close, we want to express our deep gratitude for your support of its mission over the past 13 years!

Going forward, Honoring Choices Minnesota's healthcare directives, information sheets, and other helpful ACP resources will be available on Twin Cities Medical Society's website:

Honoring Choices Minnesota was a public health initiative of the Twin Cities Medical Society and its Foundation from 2008-2021. While active programming has concluded, we are pleased to provide the following Health Care Directives and Advance Care Planning (ACP) resources developed by Honoring Choic...

10/27/2021

Friends of Honoring Choices Minnesota,

After 13 years of advance care planning promotion, education, and community engagement across the state and beyond, active programming for Honoring Choices Minnesota (HCM), an initiative of Twin Cities Medical Society Foundation (TCMSF), will conclude on December 31, 2021.

Since its inception in 2008, Honoring Choices Minnesota has been instrumental in furthering Advance Care Planning (ACP) throughout the state by assisting statewide healthcare systems with the installation of internal ACP programs; training medical students, healthcare professionals, and community volunteers to have effective ACP conversations; and working alongside communities to address disparities in ACP. The reach of Honoring Choices has also extended beyond our borders to 11 other states who have adopted and licensed the Honoring Choices brand and program materials. Unfortunately, like many programs, Honoring Choices Minnesota has faced funding challenges in recent years.

We know many of you rely on Honoring Choices Minnesota’s resources. Therefore, TCMS will:
· Continue to make HCM resources available on TCMS’ website, including: healthcare directives, ACP information sheets, and videos
· Provide future ACP facilitator trainings
· Continue to support ACP training for University of Minnesota medical students
· Create a new ACP 101 online module to support individuals and community groups who wish to learn how to engage in ACP
· Continue to license the Honoring Choices brand to state partners.

We are deeply grateful for our partners’ collaboration, our volunteers’ commitment, and our members’ support. We’d like to express special thanks to current Honoring Choices Minnesota Medical Director Ken Kephart, MD, and past Medical Director, Kent Wilson, MD for their contributions.

If you have any questions, please contact TCMS’ CEO Annie Krapek ([email protected]) or HCM’s Director Kerry Hjelmgren ([email protected]).

We are so grateful for your support of Honoring Choices Minnesota!

04/21/2021

Check out the great ACP education events being offered by our partners at Cuyuna Area Connections this month!

04/16/2021

On this National Healthcare Decisions Day, Honoring Choices Minnesota is pleased to share our newest resource to help you consider treatment preferences and make informed choices in case you contract and experience complications from COVID-19.

We encourage you to:
- reflect on your goals and values when considering treatment options
- ask your healthcare provider which COVID treatment preferences might be appropriate for you if you're not sure, and
- share your treatment preferences with your health care agent and provider when you're ready.

04/14/2021

When the Twin Cities Medical Society was formed in 2010, our inaugural president Dr. Ed Ehlinger had a vision for a new kind of medical society, one that acted as a bridge between the medical profession and public health. In the spirit of this vision, we are announcing an exciting new organizational strategy for TCMS.

Over the coming months, TCMS will restructure our organization in ways that will strengthen our commitment to engaging physicians and medical students in community driven public health initiatives and allow more flexibility than a traditional member society model.
Part of this strategy requires that TCMS exit from our formal partnership with the Minnesota Medical Association. We are deeply grateful to the contributions of the MMA to our work over the past 11 years, and we are looking forward to collaborating with them in new ways.

To learn more about our new strategy and share your voice, visit https://www.metrodoctors.com/announcement.

04/09/2021

This story is an important reminder of how the COVID-19 pandemic has made advocating for our loved ones all the more difficult, and how crucial it is to find a healthcare provider who seeks and listens to their wishes for a meaningful end of life.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/06/letting-go-my-battle-to-help-my-parents-die-a-good-death?fbclid=IwAR3Y6JYyRNYA0PzK_yta5MxNNGF70mBxVRZsO850Jc3vFl2ndkEHDUtAllI

The long read: My parents were determined to avoid heroic medical interventions in their dying days, even before the pandemic. Why wasn’t anybody listening?

02/18/2021

What makes your life worth living? What’s your idea of a good death? Filling out a health care directive gives you an opportunity to record your responses to these and other questions so they can be used to help make health care decisions if ever you can’t make them yourself. Completing a health care directive is one of the best and easiest ways to prepare for the end of your life, and it’s never too early to do it. Honoring Choices Minnesota has a great template: https://tinyurl.com/hcdirective

11/26/2020

On this Thanksgiving day, carve out time for the conversation...even if it’s on Zoom!

11/19/2020

It’s Give to the Max day! Please consider making a donation to Honoring Choices Minnesota to help us continue our mission to educate and engage Minnesota's communities in advance care planning. Your gift will help us expand access to ACP resources and support to individuals and families statewide.

Visit our website for donation information. Thank you!

Donate today to help Honoring Choices Minnesota continue its mission to educate and engage Minnesota's communities in advance care planning.

10/17/2020

If you watch the movie ‘Clouds’ on Disney +, you will catch a glimpse of the Honoring Choices Minnesota health care directive! Health care directives are free and available for download on our website: https://www.honoringchoices.org/health-care-directives