Directions for distributing and editing the Starter Guides

Our Starter Guides are freely available for you to download, print, and distribute to your community, congregants, or patients. You are also permitted, under our Creative Commons license, to edit the Starter Guides before doing so, provided you follow the requirements below.

If you do make edits, please let us know at conversationproject@ihi.org so that we can improve our guides in the future.

How to make small edits

For example:

• Replacing the word “proxy” with “surrogate” to meet your state’s terminology
• Adding a new “Where I stand” scale question that is important for your community
• Changing the pictures on the cover to reflect your population

1. Download and save the following PDF of the guide which you want to edit.
   • Your Conversation Starter Guide
   • Your Guide to Choosing a Health Care Proxy
   • Your Guide to Being a Health Care Proxy
   • For Caregivers of People with Alzheimer’s or Other Forms of Dementia
   • Your Guide for Talking with a Health Care Team
   • For Caregivers of a Child with Serious Illness
   • What Matters to Me Workbook
     
2. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro and make your desired edits
3. Fill in your organization’s information in the designated fields on the front and back covers

How to make large edits

For example:

• Adding or removing pages
• Copying the “How I stand” scale questions from the Conversation Starter Guide into your own guide
• including your logo, if desired

1. Download and save the following PDF of the guide which you want to edit
   • Your Conversation Starter Guide
   • Your Guide to Choosing a Health Care Proxy
   • Your Guide to Being a Health Care Proxy
   • For Caregivers of People with Alzheimer’s or Other Forms of Dementia
   • Your Guide for Talking with a Health Care Team
   • For Caregivers of a Child with Serious Illness
   • What Matters to Me Workbook
2. Copy and paste the text you want into your own document
3. Add the following disclaimer to your document:

This document contains content from [insert guide name]. The original was created by The Conversation Project, an initiative of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and can be found at https://theconversationproject.org/. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

How to print the Guides

• Print the PDF on your home printer in 8.5×11″ form
• Bring the PDF to your local print shop (e.g. FedEx, Staples). We recommend the following specifications:
• 5.5×8.5″ saddle stitched
• Full duplex
• 100 lb card stock covers
• 24 lb paper inside
• Order professionally printed copies via our online store

How to translate into a different language

Please email us at conversationproject@ihi.org for further guidance.