Our Mission
We are Texas Talks, a statewide 501(c)3 charitable organization led by doctors, nurses, social workers, faith leaders, and patient advocates who are dedicated to patients and the unique needs of patients with serious, advancing illnesses. We advocate for and educate about meaningful conversations between patients, the people that matter to them and their caregivers that are documented by advance care plans and when appropriate, POLST, a portable medical order set.
Our Objectives Include…
- Growing the use of conversational methods between patients, families and their doctors to improve care for the seriously ill.
- Serving as the clearinghouse for shared decision-making conversations and processes to ensure they happen for seriously ill patients.
- Promoting digital-based advance care planning, document creation, portability and retrieval.
- Advancing the use of a common POLST document in Texas as a best practice.
-Following the experience of other states through our membership and participation in the National POLST program.
We believe that when meaningful, shared decision-making conversations become a normal part of planning for our lives today and in the future, it is much more likely that the choices for care a patient does and does not want can be honored.
Patients may want to begin with our Planning Guide and our Communicating Your Choices Guide which can be found in our Resource Section of this site. We also have a large selection of videos that can increase your understanding of meaningful conversations!
Providers may want to look at the of National POLST Form Guide for Professionals to as well as the Frequently Asked Questions Guide found in the Resource Tab of this site.
