About Taylor McCandless, MSW (she/her)

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I am a self-described and recognized champion of advance care planning. My father and I had quite a journey to guide his care, advocating for maximum dignity with the minimum of fuss. Our informal conversations over the years informed my actions and the legally valid directive he completed gave me the authority to see his wishes honored. 

When you engage meaningfully to establish your wishes in advance, your loved ones are more prepared to accept and advocate for your care preferences under stress with heath providers discussing treatment options.

My motivation for consulting is to support people having their wishes documented and their loved ones empowered to advocate to have those wishes honored. This creates the best possible scenario for your medical outcomes upon an incapacitating significant event. All this can be accomplished by completing a document that is broadly known as an "Advance Health Care Directive."

• LinkedIn Profile 
• Advanced Care Planning: A Conversation with Mary Flett and Taylor McCandless (2023)
• Co-Chair, My Care, My Plan: Speak Up Sonoma County, Oct 2016 - Feb 2020; Core Faculty 2014-2019. 
• Article: Close to Home: When parents and kids become ‘legal strangers’ (2019)
• Advance Healthcare Workshops (AHCD & POLST), Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation (2019)
• Master of Social Work - MSW, Community Organizing, Planning and Administration at CSU, Sacramento
• Bachelor of Science - BSW, Social Work at CSU, Chico

I have decades of experience as a Medical Social Worker providing direct services and advocacy in Home Health and Outpatient Palliative Care settings. I've learned that whatever one's condition, the best patient-centered outcomes occur when loved ones and doctors are guided by your personalized documentation.
Medical Social Work addresses person-centered care and practical matters related to aging and chronic illness which frequently involves others participating in your care and decision-making.

I've fostered linkages with community-based organizations and needs based services. My early working years included working for agencies providing foster care, reproductive health services, crisis line coordination and volunteer advocacy services for sexual assault/domestic violence survivors and child assault prevention education.