There comes a point in every person’s life when certain decisions need to be made, according to retired doctor Marshall Goldberg.

Goldberg says that end- of-life care decisions are important for people to make, not just for themselves, but also for their loved ones.

“The more we are prepared, I think, the easier it is, especially for loved ones whom we leave behind,” Goldberg said.

At 1:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at Sno-Isle Library in Coupeville, there will be a forum to discuss these end-of-life decisions, as a part of the library’s Issues That Matter series.

The forum, called “End-of-Life Health Care: Honoring Choices,” will include Goldberg as the moderator and four health expert panelists to give a brief talk about aspects of these choices.

Then the forum will open to questions from the audience.

“I’m going to talk about ‘The Conversation,’” said palliative care advanced practice nurse Carla Jolley.

“The Conversation,” she said, is when people talk with their loved ones about how they want their end-of-life care to go.

Some choices include last will and testaments, power of attorney for health care decisions and things like how long to keep someone on life support, should it come to that.

“It’s a very uncomfortable topic for a lot of people,” Jolley said. “I’ll talk a little bit about what the spectrum of choices are.”

Jolley said that having these conversations with loved ones makes for fewer “crises” down the road and less stress.

“If people have had frank conversations, know what’s going on, (then) when that time comes, they end up not in crisis, ending up being able to meet those plans,” Jolley said.

“For those people who are trying to help in the health care system, if we know what people want … then we can help them in making those choices.”

Aside from the forum on Jan. 12, Sno-Isle Library will also be hosting a couple of classes, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Jan. 13, about writing advanced care directives.

Leslie Franzen, branch manager of the Coupeville library, said that people will have the opportunity to start working on writing theirs in those classes.

“It’s something that’s important to many people,” Franzen said, “and being educated and informed about choices that are available, I think, is key to folks being able to make decisions that are important to them.”

Jolley said having these conversations ahead of time is proven to leave loved ones left behind with lower chances of depression or post-traumatic stress.

She said loved ones finding themselves in a position to make end-of-life-care decisions for their family members can be very difficult.

“All of a sudden, they’re being asked to make that decision,” Jolley said. “That’s very hard. If we’ve done some of that work ahead of time, it makes things easier.”

The forum will also include panelists Karen Griffith, a client support volunteer with Compassion & Choices of Washington; Grethe Cammermeyer, owner of Saratoga View Adult Home; and Cathleen Fanslow, author of “Using the Power of Hope to Cope with Dying: The Four Stages of Hope.”

The events at the library will be free, but preregistration is recommended for the classes, as there are only 30 seats available.

“I think the topic, the title, ‘End-of-Life Health Care: Honoring Choices,’ is really the essence of it,” Goldberg said. “It’s making your choices known and making sure those choices … are respected at a time when we’re most vulnerable.

“I think that takes a lot of pressure, a lot of stress, off of the individual, as well as the family members that ultimately have to be involved.”

For more information or to register for the classes, visit www.sno-isle.org or call 360-678-4911.