November marks Hospice and Palliative Care Month, a time to honor the care that helps people live with dignity, comfort, and respect when facing serious illness. It is also a time when families often come together, creating an opportunity to discuss the kind of care we’d like to receive if we are unable to speak for ourselves.

Through the Quality Institute’s Conversation of Your Life (COYL) program, we help communities across New Jersey start these critical discussions. COYL provides tools, education and resources on advance care planning for individuals and the professionals who support them.

This month, we invite you to engage with us in this work:

• Watch our most recent webinar, Social Work Perspectives on Advance Care Planning and Aging, co-hosted by the Quality Institute and the Hub for Aging Collaboration at the Rutgers School of Social Work. The discussion features social workers from community, clinical, and private practice settings who share how they support individuals, families, and caregivers in having meaningful conversations about care preferences, quality of life, and values.
• Join our quarterly COYL Partner meeting, happening today at noon. We will bring together COYL partners, Mayors Wellness Campaign teams, and professionals to share insight and provide feedback on current resources, followed by planning discussions for COYL regional events in 2026.
• Learn from our partner, the Goals of Care Coalition of New Jersey, which recently launched a self-paced education program on advance care planning and palliative care. The course helps both clinicians and community members feel more confident in guiding these essential conversations.
• Sign up as a COYL Partner to connect with other leaders and receive updates on statewide efforts to support advance care planning.
• Request a COYL event in your community to bring these discussions directly to residents and local organizations.

Through COYL, the Quality Institute works to normalize advance care planning by encouraging open, informed dialogue about end-of-life care. Having a plan ensures that care reflects personal values and priorities, and that individuals remain in control of their decisions. When families, clinicians, and communities embrace these conversations early, they make care more compassionate and person-centered.

We are also pleased that a new Medicaid benefit for palliative care is scheduled to take effect in January, making New Jersey only the third state in the nation to reimburse for a broader range of palliative care services under Medicaid. The new benefit covers emotional and spiritual support as well as care coordination and recognizes the essential role of social workers as part of the palliative care team.

During our recent webinar, Lori Feldstein, CEO and Executive Director of the Goals of Care Coalition of New Jersey, shared her personal experience as a daughter and caregiver. Her father, a physician, spent 200 days in the hospital during his final year of life after a cancer diagnosis. She reflected that even with his medical knowledge, he was not guided to discuss his care preferences, a step that might have allowed him to spend more of those last months at home.

Through COYL, we work with Goals of Care, many other member organizations and most importantly Mayors Wellness Campaign teams and volunteers to provide support and guidance to individuals, families, and professionals across the state who want to begin these vital conversations — ensuring that care at every stage of life reflects personal values and priorities.

Please join us in recognizing Hospice and Palliative Care month and in promoting these important conversations of your life.  For more information, reach out to me or Katie Bisaha.