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Everyone knows that adults learn best not only through language but also through nonverbal communication: things like the tone of voice, visual images, facial expression, and contextual factors such as trust, a sense of reassurance, and use of plain, clear language. Though we know these things, this knowledge is seldom put to work in helping persons with serious illness and their families to make some of the most medical important decisions they will ever face. Angelo’s use of video breaks through into the often silent world of doctors and patients by using clear, simple, plain language, images of people in similar situations, and a calm, kind context for the information. Clinicians looking to support truly informed decision making for their patients and their families need go no further.

Working with a highly vulnerable population, we identified a need to improve shared decision making for our patients with lower health literacy. Using ACP Decisions’ video decision tools has enabled us to standardize the advance care planning process and be effective in all populations, regardless of education status or other factors. ACP Decisions has been exceptionally responsive to our work and operational needs and an invaluable partner in helping us work through the complexities of serious illness conversations, scale issues, and technology platform implementation.

We use the ACP Decisions video library in several outpatient and inpatient settings at Presbyterian and have found the quality of the language, voice and images to be highly supportive of our patients and families. The videos are brave and honest, offering our patients the truth they are seeking in a caring manner during a time of critical medical decision-making. The videos are offered in many languages, with a focus on culturally based, respectful translation which enhances the value for our patient population.

Throughout the development and implementation of our advance care planning projects, The ACP Decisions team has been tremendously supportive and responsive while providing a wide range of expertise from engagement to recent research to operational details.