ADVANCE CARE PLANNING

Advance care planning (ACP) is a process where individuals make decisions about their future medical care. It involves conversations and documents that specify your healthcare preferences. Key aspects include identifying a healthcare proxy, discussing values, documenting preferences in living wills and healthcare power of attorney, regular updates, and sharing with healthcare providers. ACP ensures your wishes are respected, even if you can't communicate, providing peace of mind for you and guidance for your loved ones and healthcare team.

Want to know more about Advance Care Planning? Read my blog post on ACP Essentials.

Advance Care Planning (ACP) offers several significant benefits:

- Personalised Care: ACP allows individuals to express their unique values and preferences for medical treatment, ensuring that healthcare decisions align with their personal beliefs and goals.

- Empowerment: It empowers individuals to have control over their healthcare decisions, reducing anxiety and uncertainty about future medical care.

- Family and Provider Guidance: ACP provides clear guidance to family members and healthcare providers, reducing the burden of decision-making during critical moments and promoting understanding of the individual's wishes.

- Peace of Mind: Knowing that your preferences are documented and will be followed can provide peace of mind, both for individuals and their loved ones.

- Quality of Life: ACP enables individuals to prioritise their quality of life, emphasising comfort and dignity in healthcare choices, particularly in situations where aggressive interventions might not align with their values.

- Reduced Conflict: It can help prevent family conflicts and disagreements by making sure everyone is on the same page regarding medical decisions.

- Alignment with Values: ACP ensures that medical care aligns with an individual's ethical, cultural, and spiritual values, promoting a sense of integrity in healthcare.

- Financial Considerations: By specifying preferences, ACP may help avoid unnecessary or costly medical interventions that an individual would not want, potentially reducing financial burdens on the individual and their family.

In summary, Advance Care Planning offers the peace of mind, empowerment, and clarity needed to make informed decisions about future medical care, while also ensuring that those decisions align with an individual's values, ultimately enhancing the quality of life and reducing potential conflicts for both the individual and their loved ones.

An Advance Directive is formalised version of an Advance Care Plan. It allows individuals to specify their healthcare preferences and decisions in advance, particularly in situations where they may become unable to communicate or make choices due to illness or incapacity.

It typically includes a living will, which outlines specific medical treatments one would or would not want, and a durable power of attorney for healthcare, designating a trusted person to make medical decisions on their behalf.

Whether you need one depends on your personal preferences and values. Having an Advance Directive can provide clarity and ensure your wishes are respected, reducing uncertainty for both you and your loved ones during critical medical situations. It's advisable for anyone who wants to have a say in their future healthcare to consider creating an Advance Directive. At the very least, I recommend having an Advance Care Plan and a firm understanding of your values about end-of-life care and treatment which you communicate to caregivers (even if it is not in a formalised version).

An Advance Care Directive is a crucial tool that helps healthcare providers and designated representatives make informed and ethically sound healthcare decisions for individuals who cannot make those choices themselves. It outlines the person's preferences for medical treatment and care in various scenarios.

When a healthcare provider or medical team is faced with a situation where the individual cannot communicate their wishes, they refer to the Advance Care Directive to guide their decisions. This document ensures that the person's values, beliefs, and specific treatment choices are respected, providing clear instructions for the type of care they would want or not want in specific circumstances.

Additionally, if the individual has appointed a healthcare proxy or durable power of attorney for healthcare, this designated person can make decisions on their behalf based on the guidelines outlined in the Advance Care Directive.

Advance Care Directives are legal in Australia based on the common law principle of autonomy, where an adult of sound mind has the legal right to decide what will happen to their body. This means you have the right to accept or decline future medical treatment while you are competent.

Whether an Advance Care Directive is legally binding falls into a bit of a grey area in Australia and most other jurisdictions. Even so, it is extremely wise to have one in most cases. There are some cases where doctors may not be obliged to provide certain types of treatment.

If you are concerned about future treatment, it is always best to err on the side of clear communication and to have conversations with doctors and carers ahead of time rather than waiting until end-of-life.

A good death generally comes down to respecting the wishes and values of the dying person, ensuring their comfort and dignity, and providing support for both the individual and their loved ones during this significant and often challenging time. Read more about what makes a good death.