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DeKalb Township speakers urge residents to complete advance care plans, explain POLST and hospice options
Summary
Local health and emergency officials told attendees that advance care documents (power of attorney for health care, POLST/DNR) and simple home preparations help ensure responders and hospitals can follow patients' wishes; free appointments and workshops start in January 2025.
Kimberly Barrios, public relations and events coordinator for DeKalb Township, opened a medical emergency preparedness session by saying the township aims to help residents prepare for urgent health situations and connect them with local services.
Nanette Meares, a registered nurse and advanced care planning program lead for Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee and Valley West Hospitals, described the practical steps residents should take to make their health-care wishes known. "Technically, anyone 18 years of age or older can complete a power of attorney for health care document and should," Meares said, and she urged attendees to keep copies accessible and, when possible, stored in electronic medical records so clinicians can find them.
Meares outlined three types of documents the health system accepts: the Illinois short form, an option specific to…
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