Advance Care Planning Facilitator Training

The Respecting Choices® First Steps Facilitator Training program prepares participants to assist healthy adults to choose a healthcare advocate; examine their values, wishes and goals; and document and share their preferences. Advance Care Planning (ACP) facilitation is a vital skill for end-of-life doulas, medical care providers, chaplains, social workers, and hospice administrators. Every adult should complete ACP upstream of a crisis. The Respecting Choices model is evidence-based, internationally recognized and has been developed over 25 years. Advance Care Planning Facilitator Training also includes community engagement strategies, barriers to completing, storing and retrieving Advance Directives, and quality improvement.

Upcoming Trainings

1-day, online Advance Care Planning Facilitator Training
Cost: $265
(​Wednesday, April 16 - FULL)
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 (Veteran's Day) - 8:30 am - 5:00 pm EST
Participants must complete 4 online learning modules prior to class and be present for the whole class period. This LIVE online class includes videos, powerpoint, large group discussion, small breakout group discussions and role play exercises.
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A process of communication,
not just a document

As a trained Advance Care Planning Facilitator, you enable individuals to:
  • Understand their choices for future healthcare
  • Reflect on personal goals, values, religious and cultural beliefs
  • Talk to physicians, healthcare agents and loved ones about their preferences
​To be effective, this process of communication needs to be individualized, based on a person’s state of health, and revisited periodically. It is not enough to simply complete a written form and file it away.
 
Training prerequisites take approximately four to six hours to complete and include:
  • Four online training modules (access is provided to registrants)
  • Initiating an advance care planning discussion with someone
  • Completing an Advance Directive practice document of your own

The 1-day training does not constitute certification. To become certified as a Respecting Choices® 1st Steps ACP Facilitator, students must complete 2 practice conversations after class and submit a write-up about how they went and what was learned (no additional cost). Everything may be completed virtually.
"I took the Advance Care Planning Facilitator Training with Merilynne and learned a lot! She is a wonderful and thorough trainer! Her knowledge and experience is an asset to this training. She went above and beyond to make sure we could accomplish this via video conferencing. I highly recommend signing up with Merilynne."
Cindy Kaufman, May 2020
This course helped me gain skills to be a better death doula. The communication skills are invaluable and learning more about advanced directives gives me a clear place to start when developing an end of life plan for a client. Concetta A., 2024



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​Compassionate Communities: A Public Health Approach to End-of-Life Care by Merilynne Rush, MSHP BSN