Your Training

Staff Training For Organisations

‘Your Life Talks’ can provide training in Autobiographical Storytelling and Advance Care Planning for your staff and volunteers.

From a service delivery point of view, there is a lot to consider before initiating these programs – how to structure a program, recruitment selection and retention, processes, training, policy issues, supervision, managing risks, technology requirements and publishing.

You may wish to introduce just the Autobiographical Storytelling Program via the use of our ‘Your Life Story’ Conversation Starter Cards & Questionnaire, as an additional recreational activity. Similarly, you may choose to concentrate on the Advance Care Planning Program via the use of our ‘Your Life Wishes’ Conversation Starter Cards & Questionnaire. Alternatively, you may wish to introduce both programs over a period of time.

Either way, we have a step- by- step Training Guide and Benefits PowerPoint Presentation (English Version Only) to assist organizations with setting up these programs, utilizing our two sets of Conversation Starter Cards and Questionnaires, all of which can be purchased from our online SHOP.

We also offer 2 hours of free consultation per program to assist with kick-starting your program, with further ongoing support, as required.

Autobiographical Storytelling

We train and support Biographers to facilitate the storytelling process as a way to celebrate, honour and affirm the unique lives of people in our communities.

For Organisations, autobiographical storytelling activities can create a real sense of community, with clients feeling more appreciated, and staff able to develop greater insight into their lives.

The biography is a record of the client’s life, told in their own words, and facilitated by the Biographer. It’s true value is in establishing a safe zone for personal reflection for clients.

For the client, it can be a fun and productive activity that assists them to reflect on their life journey. It enables them to record memories, important events, personal values and reflections and perhaps even heal past hurts.

Ideally, the biography process should be more than simply recording the facts & figures of a life, along a timeline. Hopefully, it’s a reflective personal journey that will produce a permanent legacy to leave for their family and friends, and can encourage participants to have meaningful conversations about life and captures the essence of what matters most to them.

Advance Care Planning

Health care providers should be a support and resource to people doing Advance Care Planning (ACP).

They should encourage Advance Care Planning not only by people who are facing a life limiting condition or a chronic disease, but also by people who are young and healthy. ACP conversations should be held before a health care crisis or major accident occurs so that the person has time to consider his or her choices and talk with their loved ones.

The health care professionals role is to help the person work through feelings and values so that if a time comes when the individual is incapacitated and is unable to make health care decisions, there will be a record of what that person preferences. The discussions should include how to prepare, what to talk about and what to be informed about. Ideally, the subject areas to be discussed and their preferences recorded are further outlined in our accompanying Infographic – Future Ageing Plan (FAP).

Purchase Biography & Advance Care Planning Training Resources here

Do you need up-to-date information and resources before making decisions on your end of life wishes? Then visit: