“Let Me Decide”

The health and personal care directive that speaks for you when you can’t. This booklet gives clear and explicit instructions on how to make an Advance Directive about one’s health care, with draft wording, definitions and choices. Everything is explained, everything is defined, and there is practical advice on how to make one’s views unequivocally clear - as well as on what would, and what would not, be binding on one’s carers. The booklet is in larger than usual clear print - making it very accessible to older eyes.

~Dying with Dignity’, and the various synonyms, are firmly on the agenda of debate at last, and few would doubt that there will in time be changes in law and practice. The subject’s wishes, expressed at a time of mental clarity and competence, should be central to the decisions made when he or she can no longer express them properly.

This recently developed program by the Vancouver Island Health Authority is to facilitate the use of a common form of advance directives that is easily understood by adults, and their families, as well as health care providers— for residents/patients in L.T.C. facilities and hospitals on Vancouver Island. After much research by the Advance Healthcare Committee of V.I.H.A., it was decided that V.I.H.A. would adopt the program “Let Me Decide” developed by Dr. William Molloy, Professor of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario.

As of November 2009 we found out that VIHA is no longer continuing with this information package (http://www.viha.ca/advance_directives/).

There are some copies available at our Health Centre, or you can order one online: http://www.penguin.ca/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143055495,00.html# for $12.00 per booklet or at Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/Let-Me-Decide-Dr-Molloy/dp/0143055496 where they sell some used ones and new ones.

Did you know...?

• That in 2006, about 600,000 British Columbians were 65 years or older, which is 14.6 per cent of the population. The 65+ population is
projected to double over the next 20 years.
• That recent surveys show that most seniors do not eat enough grain products, milk products or vegetables and fruits?
• That nearly one in six individuals aged 65 to 69 is currently employed, compared with a rate of one in ten from a decade ago?
• That British Columbia will have an estimated one million job openings over the next 10 years due to retirement and economic groth, but there are only 650,000 students in the school system?
• That most seniors are faring well financially, but that others need support? That's why the province is providing the Seniors' Supplement to 450,000 low income seniors. and offering programs such as the Property Tax Deferment and the Home Owner Grant.

Would you like to read more? This brochure is available in print or you can downlaod a digital version. It explains how the government is preparing for an aging population, that it is a shared responsibility and how it will implement the framework that will involve many government ministries and agencies, as well as local and federal governments, the business sector, communti organizations, and individuals. You can pick up a copy at the Access Centre in Campbell River, you can download it here, or you can visit http://www.gov.bc.ca/hls and download it from their website.

Healthy Eating for Seniors

This booklet is excellent. It covers:
• Seniors today
• Eat well, age well
• Balance is everything
• To supplement or not to supplement
• Eating right with a chronic illness
• No body's perfect
• From soup to nuts
• In the kitchen
• Food safety
• Information you can trust
• Fast and easy recipes
• Appendices

This booklet has 213 pages, is easy to read and is truly a wealth of
information. You can get a copy at the Access Centre in Campbell River,
or call Quenn's Printer in Victoria
1-800-663-6105, or email
QPPublications@gov.bc.ca. You can also visit the website at
http://www.publications.gov.bc.ca for more information.