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Planning for what matters most

Planning ahead makes sure your healthcare priorities are met. Share your wishes with your care team and loved ones to align the care you want with the care you receive.

MyCareCoaches

Our specially trained MyCareCoaches are here to help you understand how your priorities may impact your current and future healthcare decisions.

Not sure where to start? Our MyCareChoices service can help you explore and document your priorities, and designate someone to make decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so. Your care team will record your preferences in advance directives — legally enforceable documents such as a living will, a durable healthcare power of attorney or a combination of both.

Palliative care: Support when you have a serious illness

Facing a serious illness affects the whole family. Geisinger's palliative care team provides physical and emotional support. 

Also known as supportive care, palliative care can begin at any time during a life-limiting advanced illness, even while you're undergoing active treatment. It's focused on improving your quality of life and keeping you as comfortable as possible.

Your palliative care team includes doctors, nurse practitioners, social workers, dietitians, pharmacists and chaplains, all working together to support you and your family. 

Palliative care includes:

  • Pain and symptom management during treatment
  • Emotional support for you and your family
  • Help understanding your prognosis and treatment options
  • Guidance on creating an advance directive
  • Educational resources

Frequently used terms

Below are some terms you may hear when discussing advance care planning.

Advance healthcare directives

Advance directives are legally enforceable documents that record the type of care you want — or don't want — at the end of life, and name who will make healthcare decisions on your behalf if you're unable to.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)

CPR supplies oxygen to the brain and vital organs when both heartbeat and breathing stop. It may include chest compressions, rescue breathing, medications, electric shock (defibrillation) to stimulate the heart and intubation to assist with breathing.

Comfort measures

Comfort measures focus on managing symptoms and improving quality of life, rather than prolonging life. They may include medications, repositioning, oxygen, wound care or other measures used to relieve pain or discomfort.

Intubation

When a person can't breathe on their own, a doctor places a plastic tube into the windpipe and connects it to a ventilator (breathing machine).

Mechanical ventilation

When a person can't breathe adequately on their own, a ventilator connects to a tube in the windpipe to support or replace their breathing.

POLST

Pennsylvania Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) is a medical order that records your specific end-of-life healthcare choices. Your healthcare provider signs it, and you can carry it so other providers or emergency responders know your priorities.

Tube feeding/artificially administered hydration and nutrition

A feeding tube provides temporary or long-term nutrition for a person who can't swallow on their own. For short-term use, a doctor inserts a tube through the nose into the stomach. For long-term use, a surgeon places the tube directly into the stomach or intestines.

Have questions about advance care planning?

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