Future planning is an essential aspect of aging, particularly for older adults who want to ensure their needs, preferences, and values are honored as they navigate later stages of life. It involves proactive communication, decision-making, and collaboration with loved ones and support systems to create a roadmap for managing health, finances, living arrangements, and end-of-life care.
This process not only provides peace of mind for the individual but also helps reduce potential stress or uncertainty for family members and caregivers. By addressing future planning early, older adults can maintain a sense of control and independence while preparing for unexpected situations.
Here are a few resources that may be helpful in this process:
- Charting the LifeCourse has several tools to help navigate the process by providing frameworks for often difficult conversations when communicating what has worked well in the past and what a good life looks like for the future.
- TN Center for Decision-Making Support can help aging adults who serve as caregivers consider the future of their loved ones with disabilities by providing information, resources, and tools related to decision-making support options such as conservatorship, durable power of attorney, power of attorney, healthcare directive, healthcare surrogate, ABLE Account, special needs trust, and will.
If you need more help or have questions, please reach out to Pathfinder! You can contact us by phone at 800-640-4636, email TNPathfinder@vumc.org, or on our website via live chat. We’re here to support you.