The most important conversation you’ll ever have
In 1984, British writer, actor and self-confessed wordsmith, Gyles Brandreth, famously estimated that each person will say 860,341,500 words in a lifetime. And despite the average person speaking the equivalent of the entire text of the complete 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary more than 14.5 times, there is one key conversation that is escaping Aussie senior’s lips.
If you were unable to speak for yourself, who would you want to speak for you? And more importantly, what health care decisions would you want them to make?
Advance care planning is about communicating your values and preferences related to health and personal care, as well as appointing a substitute decision-maker and/or completing an Advance Care Directive.
An Advance Care Directive is only used if a person loses the ability, or capacity, to make their own medical treatment decisions. This loss of capacity might be temporary such as during illness, or permanent, and may be towards the end of a person’s life. Directives may record personal values and life goals, describe circumstances the person would find unacceptable such as requiring a breathing or kidney machine for the rest of your life, or identify other specific medical interventions you do or don’t want.
Having this conversation with family and loved ones is more important than most people realise because around half of Australians will not be able to make their own end-of-life medical decisions.
Medical Director of Advance Care Planning Australia Dr Karen Detering explained that advance care planning not only benefits the individual who has communicated their preferences, but it also reduces the burden of decision-making for loved ones.
“Research shows that having an advance care plan in place can help alleviate stress and anxiety for those decision-makers. Yet in Australia advance care planning is not common or widely understood,” Dr Detering said.
“Typically, Australians think about life and death as black and white, yet in reality there’s an extended ‘grey’ period, with more of us living with ongoing health issues.
“In fact, 85 per cent of people die after a chronic illness, not a sudden event, and most of us will live with increasing disability and illness (often for many years) before we actually die.”
Advance care planning empowers individuals to have their say on some of the most important medical decisions, during a time when they are physically unable to speak up for themselves.
If you haven’t yet started advance care planning, you don’t need to worry because you can start taking steps to begin your journey today.
The first step you can take towards ownership of your health care future is to consider your own values, preferences and past and current health. You can also take the time to decide who you would like to be your substitute decision-maker.
Once you have done this, you need to communicate your preferences with your substitute decision-maker to ensure that they are aware of the things that you do and don’t want regarding your future health care.
How can you start the conversation?
Just because you have a close relationship with someone does not mean they can assume or understand your health care preferences and values.
It is important to be brave and initiate a deep conversation with your substitute decision-maker about your views, even if you haven’t voiced your feelings in the past.
“Starting a conversation may be difficult but in the long run it will make things easier for your loved ones if health care decisions need to be made for you,” said Dr Detering.
“We really encourage you to do it now while you can, away from any crisis so you have plenty of time to work through it over a period of time.”
3 steps you can take to start the conversation
1. Choose a quiet location and make sure everyone has plenty of time to talk so you won’t be rushed or interrupted.
2. Let the conversation happen organically – you don’t need to spill everything out at once.
3. Understand that advance care planning is an ongoing conversation.
If you feel unsure of how to initiate the conversation, one upcoming event that Aussies can take advantage of is National Advance Care Planning Week, running from 16-22 April.
This week is focused on raising awareness about advance care planning with many great events, such as morning teas to information sessions, taking place to empower Aussies to get involved and raise awareness about advance care planning.
You can get involved in this week by hosting or attending an event in your community, or even taking the brave step to schedule in a conversation with your loved ones.
Dr Detering highlighted the importance of Australians remembering that advance care planning is not a one-off conversation.
“It doesn’t have to happen all at once, it’s a process that may develop over time. More importantly, there are no right or wrong answers. So, don’t put it off – plan for tomorrow so you can live for today!”
THIS IS SPONSORED CONTENT BROUGHT TO YOU IN CONJUNCTION WITH ADVANCE CARE PLANNING AUSTRALIA.