Discussing end-of-life wishes and plans can be uncomfortable, but vital.   According to Caring's Wills 2025 Survey, 24% of the participants said they have a will, 13% had a living trust, and 4% said they had other estate planning documents.  In addition, 52% said they did not know where their parents’ important documents were located, and 58% did not know the materials covered in those documents.  Determining your own end-of-life wishes and discussing difficult topics with loved ones can help reduce stress and ensure final wishes are fulfilled. 

The Boone, Campbell, and Kenton County Cooperative Extension Services held a series of programs titled Securing your Legacy, which focused on aging and end-of-life decision making.   This series was based on requests from the homemaker extension councils and family and consumer sciences advisory councils. This three-part series covered three major foci- 1. Financial Considerations, 2. Living Arrangements and Important Documents, and 3. End of Life Decisions, Options, and Communication. Topics included social security, Medicare, financial planning, universal design for the home, living options in later life, elder abuse, prepare to care for loved ones, wills/trusts/probate, hospice/palliative care, gravestone symbolism, funeral planning, organ/tissue/eye donation, and what every family should know. The following guest speakers were utilized for this series: financial planner, social security administrator, Medicare specialist, lawyer, adult protective services manager, organ donation coordinator, funeral home directors, historian, aging and disability services director, and a nurse.  The remaining topics were covered by the family and consumer sciences agents. University of Kentucky publications, handouts from AARP, and documents from government agencies were distributed. 

    65 adults from the general public participated in one or more of the programs.  Evaluations were mailed out six months after the end of the sessions and reported the following:

•    100% organized their important papers/documents and talked with loved ones about where the documents were.

•    93% shared information they learned in this program with others. 

•    89% discussed funeral, burial, or cremation wishes with their loved ones.

•    89% reviewed the beneficiaries on their accounts.

•    89% discussed with their family and loved ones about the care of their aging family members. 

•    88% worked to learn more about elder abuse and Adult Protective Services. 

•    80% reviewed their current home environment and made changes to make it more age-in-place friendly.

•    67% talked with their loved ones about their own organ and tissue donation wishes. 

•    67% reviewed their social security benefits and Medicare options or made plans to discuss them with a professional. 

•    56% updated the will they had or had a will written.

One participant said, “I reviewed and updated some of my plans-just helped me feel more confident on going forward at 77 years of age.”  Another said, “I redid my trust and put a deposit on an independent living unit at a nursing home.”