What goals do you hope to attain, or the challenges you wish to overcome before your days on this earth are done?
Hospice Palliative Care Week in British Columbia is May 7-13, and one of the activities suggested is to recognize our own mortality by making a “bucket list.”
While conversations with loved ones are always crucial, 100 Mile District Hospice Palliative Care Society bereavement co-ordinator Sarah Smith says the idea is to post your own personal bucket list on Facebook, X and any other social media, to help you communicate to a broader spectrum of your family and friends.
The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) wants folks to help create a movement and an awareness about living our lives as best as we can, she explains.
“It’s just about thinking about your life goals and making positive changes.”
Advanced care planning is another action the CHPCA is encouraging folks to think about during Hospice Palliative Care Week, she explains.
“Advanced care planning is taking the time to talk with your loved ones, and creating a plan knowing what you want to have happen in the event that you can’t speak for yourself.”
Smith says Interior Health has a document available called My Voices to help you with the forms and how to talk to your family and your doctor about what your wishes and goals are, as a support for what you want to have happen so your family can advocate on your behalf.
The #Top5WhileImAlive form is helpful for completing your own bucket list, and Smith has completed her own as evidence of her personal goals while she is still on this earth.
Sharing her own Top 5 “bucket goals,” Smith explains they are to kayak in Haida Gwaii, go on new backpacking trips, develop a grief support program for youth, take more courses/continue her education and renovate her bedroom to become her “dream space.”
Whatever you wish to do, whether you are able to go big or prefer to stay small, these supporters with hospice hope you won’t let things like disabilities or income hold you back from making your own personal bucket list of achievable goals.
For an easy form to cast your bucket list, advanced care planning and other supportive help, visit the website at www.chpca.net/news-and-events/national-hospice-palliative-care-week.aspx.
