Advance Care Planning provides you with an opportunity to reflect on, discuss and document your wishes for your health and end of life care. An Advance Care Plan is essentially a document that captures what you would like to happen if you were unable to communicate your wishes yourself.
Anyone over the age of 18 can complete an Advance Care Plan. These documents are particularly important for ageing individuals and are best completed when you are fit and healthy. Unfortunately many people don't complete these documents until it's too late.
For many ageing Australians these documents come into effect when an individual may no longer have capacity to communicate their needs or wishes. This is commonly due to the individual living with an illness such as dementia or being severely impacted by a health event such as a stroke or heart attack. By proactively recording your wishes and assigning a Substitute Decision Maker, you ensure that everyone is clear on how you wish care to be provided and communicate what is important to you.
Each state and territory has different Advanced Care Planning documents. For state specific information you can head to www.advancecareplanning.org.au or call 1300 208 582.