An Advance Health Care Directive is a document which records and makes known to your friends and relatives you particular wishes regarding your future care in the event that you are no longer able to express your wishes independently. When you are in a position to do this on your own, you may choose to record your wishes for health and personal care by completing an Advance Care Directive. If you are unable, because of complex illness such as dementia or injury, to complete an Advance Care Directive a Plan of Care can be used. This substitute decision maker in partnership along with your treating doctor or is supposed to be written by your Enduring Guardian /s and those close to you such as /or friends and family.

In regard to personal and wellness care choices, you are able to make your wishes known by appointing anyone to act on your behalf. This individual is called an Enduring Guardian. This person is only going to act when you have lost ability to make your own selections. An Enduring Guard may also supply approval (or withhold it) for medical treatment; based on your known wishes. An Enduring Guardianship appointment does not contain authority to make financial choices such as real estate or share trades.

Many individuals make provision by appointing a Power of Attorney for managing their financial and real estate. A Power of Attorney (including Enduring Power of Attorney) is a legal document authorizing another person to carry out business, financial or property affairs on a person’s benefit. When the individual loses mental capacity to produce these choices for themselves, a Power of Attorney ceases to have effect. When the individual loses ability, an Enduring Power of Attorney remains valid. The decisions an Enduring Power of Attorney can make don’t extend to lifestyle and health care decisions.

An Advance Care Directive (‘Living Will’) is a written statement affecting someone’s wishes for their future healthcare. An Advance Care Directive may be produced by anyone that has got the capability to do this. An Advance Care Directive is just used if, at some stage later on, the person becomes incapable of making health care decisions for themselves (due to sickness or injury).

Many individuals wish to have a say in their own future medical treatment should they possess a critical illness or injury and be unable to state their wishes. Carers, friends and families will often value the possibility to discuss and better understand what a patient’s wishes are. This will definitely enable them to make decisions when the individual has lost ability to get this done for themselves. Health care professionals also can take advantage of knowing the stated wishes of the patients/clients. An Advance Care Directive may also help in avoiding, or reducing, unwanted treatment.