What is Rainbow Advance Care Planning?

Rainbow Advance Care Planning helps you learn about health care decisions that might need to be made during an emergency or at end-of-life, prepare for them ahead of time, and let others know your preferences. These wishes are put into a legal document known as an advance directive. It helps others know what type of medical care you want (or don’t want), allows you to express your values and name a health care agent (someone who can make decisions for you if you cannot do so yourself).

Good advance care planning starts with an important conversation with your loved ones about your healthcare wishes and is revisited when life circumstances change. Appropriate times to have this talk include when you begin each new decade of life, you are diagnosed with a serious illness, a loved one or health care agent passes or disagrees with your preferences, you get divorced, or you can no longer live on your own.

Rainbow has been participating in a statewide initiative called Advance Care Planning & Advance Directive by the Wisconsin Medical Society since 2012. Our team of advance care planning facilitators have been trained and certified by the nationally renowned Respecting Choices® First Steps® advance care planning program and is here to help you complete this important work.

Individuals interested in scheduling a facilitated advance care planning conversation can call Rainbow at (920) 674-6255. This is a free service and, to date, more than 1,500 such conversations have taken place locally.