Advance Care Directives:
How one simple form can relieve the pressure of decision-making for everyone.
We spend much of our time planning how we want our lives to be, but much less time thinking about our death. It can be an uncomfortable topic, and can seem complex and difficult to approach. But an Advance Care Directive may be one way to make the complex reassuringly manageable.
What is an Advance Care Directive?
An Advance Care Directive is a legal document that states your wishes if you’re not able to make a decision or communicate what you want. It can cover anything from healthcare options to end-of-life arrangements.
You might want yours to state whether you will want to continue your existing medications, who will make decisions on your behalf and who will look after your dependents if you’re not able to. It may include details of medical circumstances where you wouldn’t want to be resuscitated, as well as ongoing care arrangements if you’re unable to return to your previous living situation.
A law of simplification
As a result of the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Victoria), which came into effect in March 2018, it’s never been easier to get our business in order.
Before the law changed, an individual’s wishes could be actioned by someone who has Enduring Power of Guardianship (with decision-making authority over personal, lifestyle and treatment decisions), Medical Power of Attorney (just the healthcare decisions) and Anticipatory Direction (end-of-life decisions). Frankly, it was as confusing for healthcare professionals as it was for any of us trying to understand who could decide what, when and how.
If you were among the small percentage of Australians who visited their lawyer to get all these details sorted before March 2018, your documents and decisions will still be valid—unless you change them yourself, of course!
How do I create an Advance Care Directive?
No more expensive, time-consuming trips to a lawyer required. Just download a form online (or have one sent out to you), fill it in and get it signed. Then you do a little happy dance and bask in the joy of having your stuff sorted.
Do I really need one?
I’m not able to provide individual advice on this website. But you might want to consider how much easier it will make things for your family—even if you’re fit, well and not showing any signs of needing decisions made on your behalf.
An Advance Care Directive reflects your wishes, but can also be an incredible help to your family, friends and those who help to look after you. It’s a legally-binding document and takes the pressure of decision-making out of anyone else’s hands—because you’ve already made the big decisions in advance.
We can’t see the future, but there are steps we can take today to make the path ahead easier for everyone.