In the most recent Caregiver Chronicle I wrote an article on the POLST program and how it’s going to help people with their end of life planning. Sometimes people are put in situations where they can’t make their own decisions and the families’ decisions are not always what the person at risk actually wants. In order to put a stop to this new developments to the POLST program have been implemented.
The main purpose of the POLST program is for family members and elders are on the same page in the case an emergency was to occur. It is simply an approach to end of life planning based on conversations with everyone involved in a persons life. Once this is done, wishes are documented and in the end honored which leaves no room for error when end of life planning is needed.
During the past year, the FSU Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine and Law has been working on a project funded by a grant from the Retirement Research Foundation, administered through the Oregon Health & Sciences University. The purpose of this project was to produce a set of materials that medical schools and law schools in Florida could use, if they wish, in teaching their students about POLST. We have now completed this project and sent the teaching materials to every medical school, law school, nursing school, and social work school in Florida. We also are pleased to make these Florida POLST teaching materials available to you and the public, by posting the materials on the center website where these materials are the first item listed under the heading “POLST Information and Further Reading.”