Spotlight: Having Your Own Say

  

Annette Beyea, DO, MPH

 Dr. Annette Beyea, Palliative Care Physician Outpatient Director for Four Seasons, shares her thoughts on Having Your Own Say:

Having Your Own Say is an inspirational book and significant contribution to the literature that embraces a model of care to promote informed, value-based decisions for persons at all stages of illness across all settings.
The authors emphasize the role of advance
care planning, care coordination, and palliative care, as integral components to facilitate preparedness and access to high quality care which aligns with individual’s values, goals, and preferences for care in the face of serious and life-threatening illness. As our communities prepare to support the growing demands of the rapidly expanding aging population and those living with complex chronic illness, it is essential that we develop innovative systems of care to facilitate communication, planning, and documentation across the continuum. Such systems must promote inter-professional collaborative practice, but also aim to engage the community at all levels to empower individuals and families to be informed and prepared for current and future healthcare states.