National Advance Care Planning Week, 17 – 23 March 2025 is the perfect time to have a conversation with your loved ones and health providers, so they know what choices matter most to you and respect your treatment preferences. Tony’s story shows how powerful advance care planning can be.
Tony was in his mid-60s when he received the news he had dementia. The news rocked him, and he realised he needed to plan for his future. Tony’s GP suggested he start advance care planning.
So, Tony spoke with his wife, who was his substitute decision-maker, and told her his wishes and preferences for care and treatment, including wanting to die at home, in the event he couldn’t voice this to health providers himself.
He also discussed this with his daughter, Carla, and appointed her as a secondary substitute decision-maker, knowing she would support his mother with these tough decisions. Tony’s wife and his daughter felt comforted knowing what mattered most to Tony.
If you become seriously unwell and unable to communicate or make decisions about your own health care, who do you want to make them for you? What would you want them to do?
It might seem like an uncomfortable topic. However, planning for your future health care is incredibly important. And you might be surprised at how open other people are to talking about it – once advance care planning has been explained to people, seven out of ten feel positive about it.
Thinking about, and talking about, your choices for your future health care has lots of benefits. It can ease the burden for your loved ones, giving them confidence that they know what you would have wanted.
How do you get started?
The best place to start is a simple conversation. As well as talking with your loved ones, you can talk to your GP or health provider. This can be very helpful if you have a serious health condition, so that you understand what kind of health care decisions might need to be made in the future.
The best time to start is right now. It’s never too early to start advance care planning, but it can be too late. If not now, when? You can always continue the conversation over time, and review any written documents in the future to check that they still reflect your wishes and preferences.
This year, National Advance Care Planning Week, 17 – 23 March, is a timely reminder to make your choices matter. You may wish to record your values and preferences, including appointing a substitute decision-maker, like Tony did.
It may be the music that you love or the pet that you want by your side if you become critically ill and are no longer able to communicate your preferences.
Advance Care Planning Australia is an Australian Government initiative administered by Metro South Health.
A good idea for all – all except those who don’t have anyone to be a substitute decision-maker. Then what?