Support from the Vera Z. Dwyer Charitable Trust has allowed the Center for Education & Advance Care Planning (CEACP) to transition its trusted advisor panel discussions to a virtual platform with ease. Due to the impact of COVID-19, CEACP decided that getting expert advice on how to facilitate conversations surrounding end-of-life planning was more important than ever to explore. According to CEACP’s director, Cyndy Searfoss, “Like the rest of the world, we have transitioned to using virtual platforms such as Zoom events with a conversation-based focus that are hosted on social media. This combination has allowed us to reach even more people in our community with our programming.”
The Center for Education & Advance Care Planning Facebook page allows followers (and others) to interact not only with the Center, but with one another as well. CEACP utilizes this platform to host a series of Facebook Live events via Zoom. Recently, they invited a number of trusted advisors in a variety of fields to speak on end-of life issues found in their fields. Wendell Walsh (May Oberfell Lorber), Ashlie Collier (Collier Legal Company), Joel Dendiu (Schindler, Olson, Currey & Dendiu), Craig Harrell (Center for Hospice Care) and Steve Chupp (Honoring Choices® Indiana – North Central) met virtually with CEACP Community Education Coordinator Elleah Tooker to discuss their fields and what people should know regarding end-of-life decisions.
Joel Dendiu kicked off this series with Craig Harrell; their conversation focused not only on what information you may need to bring with you to a meeting with an attorney but also on what common mistakes they had seen and how to avoid those mistakes. Wendell Walsh brought his wit and expertise to the next virtual panel with Steve Chupp to discuss advance directives in greater detail. Ashlie Collier and Steve Chupp discussed how COVID-19 has and hasn’t changed their professional landscape. The goal of all of these panel discussions was to create a place for community members to ask questions and interact with the experts, even during this time of social distancing brought about by COVID-19.
These discussions will continue throughout the year. They will be held live on Facebook, and then archived on Center for Education & Advance Care Planning’s Facebook page. To stay up to date on virtual events such as these panel discussions, like and follow our Facebook page to begin receiving notifications of future events! If you would like to participate on a future panel or learn more about our virtual events please contact Elleah Tooker, tookere@cfhcare.org.