National Advance Care Planning Week provides an ideal opportunity to participate in an education event or discuss your values with loved ones, highlighting what matters most to you. This is also important for healthcare professionals. It’s like the analogy of the plumber with the leaky tap at home. While professionally you may be working with advance care directives and discussing advance care planning regularly, have you had those type of conversations with your own family? National Advance Care Planning week could be a great week to do this.
Advance care planning includes reflecting on and discussing your future healthcare preferences and enables healthcare providers to comprehend and honour an individual’s future healthcare choices, especially when they become seriously ill and unable to communicate their preferences.
Through advance care planning, individuals can document their wishes regarding medical treatments and interventions, ensuring that their values and beliefs are respected even in challenging circumstances. This process empowers individuals to make informed decisions about their future healthcare, providing peace of mind for both themselves and their loved ones.
By initiating these important conversations and establishing clear directives, advance care planning allows for personalised and dignified care that aligns with an individual’s desires and values. It serves as a valuable tool in promoting autonomy, compassion, and understanding in the delivery of healthcare services.
Click below to understand your role and responsibilities as a health provider and how to support an individual’s future health care preferences.
Health professionals: roles and responsibilities
Download Factsheet for Health Professionals HERE
Download Factsheet for individuals HERE
Click HERE to know more about Advanced Care planning including a video with transcript.
