Advance Care Planning

What is Advance Care Planning (ACP)?

Advance Care Planning is a process of planning for future health. You can discuss and write down your values, beliefs and preferences. This can guide health decision-making in the future if you cannot make or communicate your own decisions due to a lack of capacity. Advance Care Planning is about discussing your life goals, values and choices.

Why plan ahead?

What if an injury, illness or disability meant you needed support to make decisions? Who would you want to support you? If you became unable to make some decisions, would those close to you know the preferences and values that guide you when you make decisions? For example, decisions about your finances, medical treatment or how you live. Who would you trust to make decisions for you?

Advance Care Planning can reduce the burden of decision-making during crisis situations and can provide a clearer understanding of your wishes. Above all, Advance Care Planning allows your voice to be heard when you are unable to speak for yourself.

There are 3 major benefits:

• Advance Care Planning reduces stress for your family
• Clarifies treatments and identifies the legal decision-maker for medical staff
• Gives you peace of mind.

Advance Care Planning can include:

• Appointing someone - Think about who you trust to make medical decision on your behalf if you were unable to. You can complete a legal form to appoint this person as your Medical Treatment Decision Maker
• Chatting and communicating - Talk to family, friends and doctors about what is important to you. Discuss your values, preferences and what you would find unacceptable in relation to your health
• Putting it on paper - You can write down your values, preferences and what is important to you in an Advance Care Directive.

Think about writing an Advance Care Directive if:
1.    You have firm preferences about future medical treatment
2.    You have no-one, or no-one suitable, that you could appoint as a Medical Treatment Decision Maker
3.    You have preferences for your health care that are different from what you think your family would want for you.

When to do ACP

Almost anyone over the age of 18 years can do Advance Care Planning. Some key groups that Advance Care Planning is useful for are:

• Aged or older people who are frail
• People of any age with chronic progressive and life-limiting conditions
• People approaching end of life
• People with multiple health conditions
• People with early cognitive impairment
• People who are regularly admitted to hospital.

It is also a good idea to discuss Advance Care Planning if you are having medical or surgical treatment as sometimes these may result in temporary loss of capacity.

A good time to do Advance Care Planning is when your health is stable.

How to create an ACP

Key people who will help you with this process is your doctor or other healthcare professionals. During this process it’s a good idea to talk with your family/carer and your healthcare professional. You may talk about your beliefs, values and attitudes towards current or future treatment options.  You could also talk about personal and cultural issues that are important to you.

The Office of the Public Advocate has created Take Control, a  booklet with all the information needed to create an Advanced Care Plan. There are also links within the booklet for the forms that need to be completed.