Saturday was Conversations That Count Day, a national initiative promoting advance care planning.
The initiative seeks to raise awareness about advance care planning so that people start thinking, talking and planning for their future and end of life care.
“Completing an advance care plan is appropriate for any time of life,” Middlemore Hospital renal department senior medical officer Joe Hancock says.
“We want people to start having conversations with their family, friends and wider social networks about their future health care.
An advance care plan is a statement made by the patient to guide their medical care under circumstances where they are unable to speak for themselves,” Hancock says.
“This helps the patient’s family and medical team to make decisions which are consistent with the patient’s values and wishes.”
The plan starts with an open and honest conversation between the individual, their family and their medical provider.
The wishes and feelings of the individual and of their family are explored and established and statements can then be made in the form of an advanced care plan.
This year’s theme is “get them talking” and the target audience is active retirees.
Advanced Care Planning Checklist
- Understand any health condition(s) you have and how these may progress.
- Discuss these with your health care provider, including treatment options.
- Think about what you would like and what is important.
- Share your wishes with family and whānau.
- Nominate someone to speak for you when you can’t and consider an enduring power of attorney.
- Write a will with directions for legacies or gifts.
- Keep a file of important papers and documents.
- Leave funeral plans if you have a view about this (including pre-paying).
- Complete your advance care plan.
Source
- stuff.co.nz
- scoop.co.nz
- Image: facebook.com