When Vivial Lopez鈥檚 grandmother was on life support, her family was faced with many difficult decisions. Her grandmother did not have an , so her family did not know her final wishes.
The experience of navigating her grandmother鈥檚 end-of-life plan without any direction led Lopez to advocate for families to prepare advance directives - especially those in Black and brown communities.
Approximately only complete an advance directive for end-of-life care. Lopez works with the to empower members of the St. Louis community to navigate death through quality end-of-life care.
鈥淏y the time someone is 18 鈥� when you鈥檙e considered a legal adult 鈥� you should have an advance directive,鈥� Lopez said.
An advance directive is a document based around an individual鈥檚 values and final wishes. The document is only valid when an individual is incapacitated and no longer has the ability to speak for themselves.
Individuals can also write an advance directive themselves and have it to make it legal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a gift for the living to give their loved ones to be able to honor their final wishes,鈥� Lopez said.
that Black people are less likely to fill out an advance directive.
Lopez aspires to help other families prevent difficult situations, such as deciding what to do if a loved one is on life support. She asks questions to people and their families that they would not typically think about. Lopez facilitates and navigates the conversations about death in an informing, yet comfortable and engaging way.
鈥淚 think about some of the history in our country around the health care industry and Black folks and how there is a mistrust, as well,鈥� said Lopez. 鈥淎 lot of people are concerned about what鈥檚 really going to happen or if there is an ulterior motive with it [filling out advance directives].鈥�
Each time Lopez facilitates conversations about death with families, she observes that they learn something new about a loved one and their wishes for end-of-life care.
鈥淟ike it or not, we鈥檙e all going to leave this earth,鈥� Lopez said. 鈥淎nd we want to make sure we鈥檙e honoring our loved ones.鈥�
To learn more about tough conversations navigating death and how to fill out an advance directive, listen to St. Louis on the Air on , , or or click the play button below.
鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by , , , and . Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is .
