We start early, making progress at your pace. We focus on details that can be overlooked, but important nonetheless. Aware the process can become daunting, we strive to simplify the experience and celebrate the rewards of completion.

Together we discuss your values, goals, and desired outcomes. We’ll explore real scenarios so your wishes are clearly understood and documented before a crisis ever arises.

Our Wayfinder Team Effort plans include a yearly review and complimentary updates following major life changes such as a new diagnosis, hospitalization, a change in relationships, or a move. Your plan should always reflect where you are right now.

We will guide you through gathering, organizing, and storing your most important documents in one accessible place.

Documents may include medical, financial, and legal records, with clear notes on where originals and copies are kept and how to access digital records and passwords.

We will help you create a comprehensive written summary of your key wishes including your preferred setting for care, thresholds for life-sustaining treatments such as ventilators, CPR, tube feeding, pain and symptom priorities, and spiritual or cultural preferences.

We educate on common advance directives and how they function in California or your jurisdiction:

• Living Will - your written statements about treatments you would want or don’t want

• Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care / Health Care Proxy - appoints a trusted person to speak your wishes if or when you can not effectively communicate

• DNR / DNI Orders - documentation for do-not-resuscitate and do-not-intubate directives

• POLST Form - documentation of physician orders for life-sustaining treatment

We can accompany you to in-person or video appointments with your clinician to review your summary, ensure your wishes are understood, and request that your advance directives and POLST form are added to your medical record.

For legally binding documents, we recommend consulting an attorney familiar with health care planning

Understanding your options is highly empowering. We provide clear, honest education on all end of life choices. Knowledge is power here, the more you know, the more you avoid stress, confusion, and over-spending.

Hospice & Palliative Care We explain how each plays a role on symptom relief and quality of life. Contrary to hear-say, these models of care can often be provided alongside other treatments. We strongly encourage exploring these options early rather than waiting for a crisis.

Disposition Options We review and discuss the methods and general costs of traditional burial, green burial, cremation, aquamation, soil transformation, and body donation. Knowing your options will help you finalize your choice and take steps toward pre-planning.

Pre-Planning There is a significant difference between pre-planning and planning at the time of need. Emotionally, financially, and practically, preplanning is always the better choice. The benefits of acting early ensure your loved ones are never left making difficult decisions under pressure. We advocate for you every step of the way! You will remain updated and informed to make choices that fit your needs and budget.

Death with Dignity We offer a thoughtful, in-depth discussion of Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) and Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED) for those who wish to explore these options.

Good planning goes beyond the paperwork we’ve just discussed. Next, we help you map out the practical details that keep daily life running when things get hard.

Together we will identify who will provide daily caregiving, transportation, pet care, and bill management; just to name a few of the categories. As importantly, we will build in backup plans and respite support for your caregivers so no one person carries too much for too long.

Another crucial and often overlooked (or ignored) part of advance planning is discussions to have with your loved ones. You’ve heard stories and possibly experienced conflict & divide stemming from avoidance of difficult conversations. Sadly, things that go untold can be the catalyst to break apart family ties at end-of-life.

We help you clarify your values first, then translate them into specific life prolonging preferences. This leaves out the guesswork, stress, and potential clashes of opinion between your loved ones. Questions we may explore together include:

• Name two important factors that will make your quality of life feel unacceptable?

• Doctors found an “un-operable mass” while you were sedated and notified your family. When you wake up, nobody tells you so you don’t “give up”. Is this what you would want them to do?

• You have been on chemotherapy for stage 4 cancer and have slipped into a coma. It has been determined that you have pneumonia that may claim your life. Doctors ask your loved ones if you want antibiotics. How should they respond?

• Have you check everything off your bucket list? What’s left?

• How much should your family spend on your funeral?

We offer a variety of tools to help you articulate your preferences including values cards, scenario prompts, and physician conversation guides.

When you're ready, we (or you) can facilitate a family meeting to review your completed advance care directive. These gatherings may at times conjure up fear, anxiety, and unexpected tension. You may or may not have some pushback, but it is important to clarify your needs. Having a calm, knowledgeable presence in the room helps keep the conversation productive and focused on what matters most.

The Wayfinder dinner party, The Uninvited Guest - Dead Serious Discussion is a creative event to share this information with the important people in you life. We may introduce some humor and conversation games to gently break the ice. Believe it or not, sometimes it can go far better than imagined.