The Green Sleeve Advance Care Planning Program

An accident or medical crisis can happen to anyone, of any age, at any time.

Advance care planning (ACP) is a process of thinking ahead about the type of health and personal care decisions you would want made on your behalf if you became ill or injured and were unable to speak for yourself. 

Developing your advance care plan is a vital process for communicating your wishes for future care. Putting a plan in place will help ensure you get the care you want and help your family at a difficult time.

Making an ACP involves understanding who would be asked to make decisions for you and putting documentation in place to ensure the right person will be able to represent you. If you have underlying health conditions, it means talking to your doctors to understand what medical decisions you may face in the future. It means having conversations with your family and decision-maker(s) to ensure they understand what you would want and can honour your wishes in the future.

Why Should You Have a Coast Hospice Green Sleeve?

Think of the Coast Hospice Green Sleeve as your healthcare passport. It’s a place to store your medical information and advance care planning (ACP) documents in case of a medical emergency or a decline in your health.

Store your Green Sleeve safely at home on or near the fridge, where paramedics and family know to find it during an emergency. Your Green Sleeve will speak for you if you are too ill or injured to speak for yourself.

We Help Coast Residents with Advance Care Planning

  • Where To Get Your Green Sleeve

    The Coast Hospice Green Sleeve is free to all Coast residents. To pick up your green sleeve, stop by Hospice House in Davis Bay or one of our many community partnership locations.

    Green Sleeve Locations

  • Register Your Green Sleeve

    Once you’ve picked up your Green Sleeve, please register the number online so we can support you along your ACP journey.

    Register Here

  • Personalised Support

    Volunteers meet with Coast residents one-on-one to review the steps to develop an ACP and complete the Green Sleeve. Please contact us if you’d like this free service.

    Get Support

 Tools and Resources

Attend Workshops and Events

The one thing we know about life is that, at some point, we are all going to die.

Advance care planning helps you have a say in the health care you would like to receive if you get very sick and cannot speak for yourself. Together, we explore the steps involved in making an Advance Care Plan (ACP) and review the inserts in the Green Sleeve package. 

These are interactive sessions with the goal of providing opportunities for participants to develop their own ACP.

Explore Related Websites

ADVANCE CARE PLANNING CANADA

BC CENTRE FOR PALLIATIVE CARE

BC MINISTRY OF HEALTH: Advance Care Planning
With access to their publication MY VOICE: Expressing My Wishes for Future Health Care Treatment.

FIRST NATIONS HEALTH AUTHORITY: Advance Care Planning
With access to their publication YOUR CARE, YOUR CHOICES: Planning in Advance for Medical Care.

NIDUS PERSONAL PLANNING RESOURCE CENTRE
A legal resource for information on representation agreements and other personal planning document.

PEOPLE’S LAW SCHOOL: Plan for Your Future Care
This is a very accessible resource for the legal problems of everyday life in BC, including financial planning, advance care planning, and estate planning.

THE CONVERSATION PROJECT
Family conversations can be challenging, but they are the single most important part of an advance care plan.  This is a good resource if you’re having trouble discussing future care.

THE WAITING ROOM REVOLUTION
When it comes to navigating the journey through serious illness, two McMaster doctors want to empower patients to take an active role in making the best choices at every juncture. This website is a great resource for patients and families.

Thank You Green Sleeve Funders

The Green Sleeve is a Sunshine Coast Hospice initiative developed in collaboration with the Sunshine Coast Division of Family Practice, community paramedics from BC Emergency Health Services, the Sunshine Coast palliative care team, and the home care health team at shíshálh Nation.

Each year, Coast Hospice submits grant applications and competes for funding from various philanthropic organizations. These grants help supplement what we receive from the community and represent as much as 40% of the critical funds needed to continue offering our programs and services at no cost to residents.

We are grateful to have received grants (directly for Green Sleeve) from:

  • The BC Centre for Palliative Care

  • The BC Gaming Grant

  • The Law Foundation of BC

  • The London Drugs Foundation

  • The Notary Foundation of BC

  • The Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller Vancouver Commandery

  • The Sunshine Coast Division of Family Practice and Shared Care BC

  • The Sunshine Coast Foundation

If you would like to contribute to our Green Sleeve Program, you may do so below. We thank you for your contribution.

Green Sleeve Advance Care Planning guide and resources are provided free of charge to residents of the Sunshine Coast. This innovative program is largely coordinated and delivered by trained volunteers. Your gift will help offset the costs associated with the delivery of community education sessions, promotion, updating and printing of the packages.

Advance Care Planning and Hospice News