Before the Crisis: Supporting Families Through Preparedness, Planning and Legacy

This CHPCA Learning Institute session explores how proactive planning and access to critical information can reduce stress and improve experiences for individuals and families during emergencies, serious illness, and end-of-life situations.

It addresses a common challenge in hospice and palliative care: families often face difficult decisions without clear information about a person’s wishes, important documents, or practical plans. With a focus on how structured, guided approaches — including digital tools — can support advance care conversations, preparedness, and legacy planning in ways that are accessible and person-centered.

This session is intended for hospice and palliative care professionals, community care providers, social workers, care coordinators, educators, and others who support individuals and families navigating serious illness or end-of-life planning.

Participants can expect to gain practical insights into common barriers to planning, strategies for encouraging earlier conversations, and examples of how technology and simple frameworks can complement clinical and community practice, as well as ideas that participants can adapt in their own settings to support clarity, dignity, and reduced crisis-driven decision-making for patients and families.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to: 

• Analyze common factors that contribute to gaps in preparedness and information access during serious illness, emergencies, and end-of-life care.
  Assess how structured planning approaches can support person-centred care, improve communication of wishes, and reduce stress for families and care teams.
• Evaluate the role of digital tools in enhancing advanced care planning and improving timely access to critical information across care settings.
  Implement practical strategies to facilitate earlier, more effective conversations about preparedness, legacy, and end-of-life wishes within their professional practice.
• Integrate actionable approaches or resources that strengthen preparedness and continuity of care in hospice, palliative, or community-based environments.
  Meeting many individuals where they are most comfortable, where they call home.

Before the Crisis: Supporting Families Through Preparedness, Planning and Legacy
Wednesday, November 25th 12:30pm – 4:00pm

Joy Wirta

Joy Wirta is a passionate advocate for advance care planning and end-of-life as well as emergency preparedness, dedicated to supporting individuals and families in navigating life’s most meaningful transitions with clarity and compassion. Her role as an end-of-life doula brings both thought leadership and practical guidance to conversations that are often avoided but deeply necessary.

She is the CEO and founder of EXIT Life Ready, an innovative tech start-up focused on empowering individuals to prepare for future health and life decisions with confidence and ease.

With a strong commitment to service, Joy volunteers with multiple organizations in community outreach and supports advanced care planning with HPCO. Joy works on moving the dialogue in healthy conversations.