National Advance Care Planning week is a week-long initiative from 21 - 27 March to raise awareness of advance care planning. We're encouraging all Australians to plan their future health care preferences and for Health Professionals and Aged Care Workers to start the conversation about what is important with their patients.
What is Advance Care Planning?
Advance care planning allows health professionals to understand and respect a person's healthcare preferences, if the person ever becomes seriously ill and unable to communicate themselves.
Advance care planning can result in a person's preferences being documented into a WA Advance Health Directive to help ensure these preferences are respected. This will only be used once the person loses capacity to make or express their preferences.
Who needs to do Advance Care Planning?
Everyone, regardless of age or health, should consider advance care planning. It can be particularly important to individuals such as people with a chronic illness, a life- limiting illness, are aged 75 years or older or at risk of losing competence.
I am a Health Care Professional/Aged Care Worker; how can I get involved?
Advance care planning is a voluntary process and can allow health professionals to understand and respect a person's future healthcare preferences, for a time when they become seriously ill and unable to communicate those decisions for themselves. It can achieve peace of mind by making their values, beliefs and health care preferences known to friends, family, and care providers.
Health care professionals and aged care workers have an important role to initiate advance care planning and ensuring people have choice in their care. Advance care planning conversations should be routine and occur as part of a person's ongoing health care plan.
Better outcomes are experienced when advance care planning is introduced early as part of ongoing care rather than in reaction to a decline in condition or a crisis situation.
This Advance Care Planning Week:
- Be open
