Go Wish: a tool for end-of-life care conversations

The Go Wish card game is an advance care planning tool developed by Coda Alliance to help people have conversations about end-of-life care. Initially, this tool was designed as an easy, entertaining exercise for low-functioning assisted-living facility residents, their family members, and their CNA/nursing assistants (many of whom have limited English language skills.) Use of the tool can be proctored by staff or even a caregiver after minimal instruction. It turns out to be a widely applicable and inexpensive tool to help people discuss end-of-life care. The cards focus the conversations, provide important vocabulary to give voice to patients' needs and concerns, and offer a means for sharing those ideas. The Go Wish tool has developed into professionally designed and printed cards that are boxed as a game set. This paper describes the development of the Go Wish cards and reports on some of the diverse cases in which they have been useful.