DAYTON—Chaplain Terry Rice jump-started a conversation about end of life wishes when he presented “Five Wishes,” to folks at the Dayton First Congregational Church, on July 29.

“The best time to plan is when things are going alright. Whether you are 30, or 70, this is a good time to talk,” said Rice, who has served with Walla Walla Community Hospice since 2011.

Rice said Five Wishes is the brainchild of Jim Towey, a legal attorney for Mother Teresa. Towey lived in Mother Teresa’s Washington DC hospice, he said.

While an Advance Directive covers the medical and legal aspects of end of life care, Five Wishes covers those, as well as emotional and spiritual needs, said Rice.

Rice said, “It takes on the whole person’s needs.”

Referred to as “America’s most popular living will,” and legal in 42 states, Five Wishes is an 11-page document that is simple to read and understand and can be tailored to fit specific requests. It requires only two witness signatures to be legal in Washington State, said Rice.

The Five Wishes are:

The person I want to make care decisions for me when I can’t.

The kind of medical treatment I want or don’t want.

How comfortable I want to be.

How I want people to treat me.

What I want my loved ones to know.

Rice said he became interested in end of life issues during a two-week rotation in Palliative Care, while at the University of California, San Francisco.

Since receiving a master’s degree in divinity, Rice said he has mainly provided pastoral care in institutional health care settings like Providence St. Mary’s Hospital.

Information about Five Wishes can be found on the Five Wishes website at: http://www.FiveWishes.org, or by calling (888) 594-7437 to purchase copies.