The “Let’s Talk About ACP” Program

Let's Talk About ACP logo

Gloria Thomas Anderson, PhD, LMSW
Advance Care Planning Expert and Author

I am excited to share my African-American ACP Training Program with you! This has been a tremendous labor of love and commitment for the past several years and I am grateful to do this important work.

I am also thankful for everyone who has helped me with this vision to provide a culturally sensitive and relevant process to help faith leaders educate and empower their African-American congregants on advance care planning and end-of-life care. My program, Let’s Talk About ACP, is designed to help bridge gaps in healthcare disparities by providing a simple way to talk about the oftentimes difficult topics of death and dying. 

I know it’s a hard topic to talk about, but it’s better to talk about it now while you can let someone know what your wishes would be if you were no longer able to speak for yourself in a life-threatening illness or accident. Even though Black Americans only make up around 13% of the U.S. population, they have the highest per capita illness rates of all ethnic groups in this country. Most people want to be in charge of their own lives.

Nobody wants to be a burden. If you feel that way, advance care planning may help prevent that from happening. How you want your final days to be is more likely to be your personal decision if you plan your healthcare needs in advance.

My prayer is that more families and caregivers are equipped to P.L.A.N. (an acronym I coined for Preparing for Life After Now). Regardless of ethnicity, all people are human beings first, and having dignity in dying is just as important as having dignity in living. 

Blessings to you,
Dr. Gloria

Program Overview:

The WHAT…The Let’s Talk About ACP Program is a culturally relevant in-house training workshop that provides advance care planning (ACP) education within African-American churches and communities. The Program is an extension of The African-American Spiritual and Ethical Guide to End-of-Life Care book (which is also a CDC-recommended ACP resource) that has successfully helped tens of thousands of people learn more about preparing for life after now in a culturally responsive way. 

The WHO…The Let’s Talk About ACP Program is designed to equip pastors, faith leaders, chaplains, and ministers to educate and empower their African-American congregants in healthcare decision-making related to advance care planning and end-of-life care options.

The WHY…The Let’s Talk About ACP Program seeks to close racial healthcare disparity gaps in advance care planning, and hospice and palliative care utilization. The Program provides a culturally sensitive approach to advance care planning education for African Americans which includes the historical, spiritual/cultural, and generational factors that typically influence healthcare decision-making.

The WHERE…The Let’s Talk About ACP Program is an outreach effort that serves African-American communities nationwide.

The HOW…The Let’s Talk About ACP Program supports in-house church facilitation of sustainable educational workshops to help congregants ©P.L.A.N. (Prepare for Life After Now).

To apply for ©The Let’s Talk about ACP Program for your church, please complete the application below:

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