Respecting Choices

Want to make your advance care planning (ACP) conversations better and help people make decisions by understanding what matters most to them? Want to have conversations that are more productive and satisfying for all involved? Sign up for Respecting Choices’ national ACP courses. These courses have helped participants become better communicators for over 20 years.

ADVANCE CARE PLANNING

Who should attend?

They’re appropriate for those working any care setting, from clinical to community. Nurses, physicians, social workers, advanced practitioners, clergy, and leaders of advance care planning programs.

Testimonials

“I believe in the value and power of the Respecting Choices training and liken the RC training to ‘masters level communication skills’, rather than the basics that can be gleaned from a 2.5 hour course.”

Kellie Durgan, Chief Mission Integration Officer, Providence in Spokane, WA

“The instructors were very experienced which made the course very fruitful. The role play and discussion were very precious learning opportunities. I highly recommend this course to my colleagues.”

Gigi, Advanced Practice Nurse, Hong Kong

“One of our employees heard about the Respecting Choices Program. She brought it back to our leaders and they embraced it. It’s been a quality experience all the way around. On a 1-10 scale, I would rate it a ten.”

Rev. Audry Pryor-Mouizi

Which courses to take?

Because ACP is not a one-size-fits-all conversation, Respecting Choices courses are tailored to help you meet the needs of the individuals you work with based on their stage of health.

If you mostly serve people who:	The courses for you are:
Are healthy or have early chronic illness…	First Steps ACP
Have serious illness with potential for complications…	Next Steps ACP
Are in the last few years of life…	Advanced Steps ACP

Interested in building an ACP program in your organization or community? Send team members to all of the courses. Participants are welcome to register for any of the courses independently, based on their objectives and if precourse requirements are met.

	Click here for the Respecting Choices National Courses Brochure
	Registration Open! Click here for the Registration Guide for details.

Click on the headers below for more information…

ACP Facilitator Certification Courses

ACP Core Component

The ACP Core Component course is the first component on the pathway to Facilitator certification. This course focuses on learning the communication skills and the Exploration phase of facilitating conversations with all individuals. It lays the groundwork for using that information to align healthcare decisions with what matters most when carried forward to the Goals of Care phase of the ACP conversation to support person-centered decision making. The ACP Core Component course affords an in-depth experience for course participants in exploring the individual’s goals, values, and beliefs when having an ACP conversation.

The ACP Core Component Course is intended for professionals and healthcare providers (social workers, nurses, health educators, and physicians), clergy, volunteers, and others involved in providing ACP facilitation.

This course is a prerequisite for attendance at First Steps, Next Steps, and Advanced Steps ACP Facilitator Certification Intensive courses.

The purpose of this course is to assist participants in learning effective communication and conversation skills and techniques for facilitating person-centered conversations. These conversations have application for in-person visits and telehealth.

NOTE: The ACP Core Component course may be taken as a standalone course if not seeking ACP Facilitator Certification.

ACP Core Component Precourse Requirements:

Complete Respecting Choices Online ACP Facilitator Curriculum (modules 1–4 for Core).
Review documents and a short video provided electronically prior to the course.

ACP Facilitator Certification Intensives

In the stage-specific ACP Facilitator Certification Intensive courses, Facilitator candidates learn the Goals of Care phase and Decision-Making Framework of the respective stage-specific ACP conversation. These courses are intended for a variety of professionals (nurses, social workers, health educators, physicians, advanced practice providers, chaplains, clergy, and other care providers) and community volunteers. This course is appropriate for all levels of knowledge.

The purpose of these courses is to assist participants in learning effective communication skills, techniques, and critical thinking for facilitating person-centered ACP conversations. These conversations have application for in-person visits and telehealth.

To achieve ACP Facilitator certification in each stage of planning (First Steps, Next Steps, or Advanced Steps), candidates must complete Respecting Choices Online ACP Facilitator Curriculum, the ACP Core Component Course, and the ACP Intensive course for ACP Facilitator Certification in the stage of planning they are to be certified.

ACP Facilitator Certification Intensive(s) Precourse Requirements:

Attend the ACP Core Component course.
Complete Respecting Choices Online ACP Facilitator Curriculum (modules 1–4 for Core and First Steps, modules 1–5 for Advanced Steps, modules 1–6 for Next Steps).
Review documents provided electronically prior to the course.

Summer/Fall 2023 Virtual ACP Core Component Courses:

8/2 and 10/4

Summer/Fall 2023 VIRTUAL ACP Facilitator Certification Courses:

First Steps ACP: 8/8 and 10/11

Next Steps ACP: 8/17 and 10/17

Advanced Steps ACP: 8/22 and 10/24

ACP Design and Integration Course

The purpose of the ACP Design and Integration course is to build skills to design an effective program with the goal of integrating person-centered decision making as a standard of care. The course is organized around a framework that supports keeping the promises/processes necessary for a sustainable program. The course blends in workgroup activities that give the learner the freedom to adapt the elements to be effective in their specific program.

The course is intended for healthcare and community leaders (administrators, managers, program directors, ACP coordinators, and others) and clinicians (physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, social workers, and others) who are interested in integrating an effective ACP program within their organization or community. This course is appropriate for all levels of knowledge.

NOTE: The ACP Design and Integration course is a prerequisite to attend a stage-specific ACP Instructor Certification course. Individuals seeking Instructor certification benefit from identified elements which support the certified Facilitators important role as members of the interprofessional team.

Summer/Fall 2023 Virtual ACP Design and Integration Courses:

9/7 and 11/1

ACP Instructor Certification Course

The ACP Instructor Certification course features strategies for teaching, evaluating, and mentoring the communication skills of ACP Facilitators, and prepares participants to teach the stage-specific ACP Facilitator Certification course (First Steps, Next Steps, Advanced Steps).

This course is intended for healthcare educators, nurses, physicians, community leaders, social work practitioners, and chaplains and clergy who are interested in becoming certified to replicate the stage-specific ACP Facilitator Certification course in their own organization or community.

The purpose of this course is to assist participants in becoming certified as Respecting Choices stage-specific ACP Instructors.

Instructor Certification Precourse Requirements:

Attend the ACP Design and Integration course.
Be certified as the stage-specific ACP Facilitator for which you are seeking Instructor certification.
Complete a Respecting Choices Instructor Certification Agreement for Advance Care Planning.
Review documents provided electronically prior to the course.

Summer/Fall 2023 VIRTUAL ACP Instructor Certification Courses:

First Steps ACP: 9/12 and 11/8

Next Steps ACP: 9/21 and 11/14

Advanced Steps ACP: 9/26 and 11/16

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National Courses and Events