Advance care planning process

What matters most to me now? What will matter most to me when I become less well?

Your advance care planning process will be guided by your beliefs, values and preferences. Take time to think about things like:

• what being happy and healthy means to you
• any worries about your future health and care
• who you want to make decisions for you if you cannot
• who you would like around when you are unwell and where you would like to get care
• medical treatments you want or do not want.

The MyValues (external site) website has a list of statements to help you think about and share what matters to you:

It can be hard for people to know  what is important to you for your future health and care. Having a conversation can help. Think about a good time to have the conversation and find a place that feels comfortable.

Who can you talk to about advance care planning?

You might want to talk about your needs and what is important to you with people you trust. This may be:

• family, friends and carer(s)
• enduring guardian(s) (if appointed)
• GP or another member of your healthcare team (e.g. Aboriginal health worker or practitioner, nurse, support worker, or psychologist)
• legal professional
• cultural or spiritual person.

What can you talk about?

You may talk about different things with different people. Talk to your loved ones about your values and beliefs, and the care you want when you are unwell.

Talk about worries for your health and options for future care with your health professionals. 

The Advance Care Planning Australia conversation starters (external site) can help you when talking to others.

It is important to write down the choices you have made. People can read your choices and know what help you want.

In WA there are different documents you can use to make your values and choices for your future care known. The documents are:

Complete by you

• Advance Health Directive
• Enduring Power of Guardianship (external site)
• Values and Preferences Form: Planning for my future care

Complete by someone else on your behalf

• Values and preferences statement for a person with impaired decision-making capacity
• Goals of Patient Care form.

See Advance care planning documents and resources for more information on these documents. The ‘Write’ section in Your Guide to Advance Care Planning in WA also has more information and comparison of the documents.

Thinking about what types of decisions and thoughts (PDF 1486KB) you want to share will help you decide which document(s) could be useful.

Tip: You can have both an Advance Health Directive and an Enduring Power of Guardianship.

Who will make treatment decisions for me if I cannot make or communicate my own decisions?

Health professionals follow a certain order when  they need a decision about your treatment if you cannot make decisions or tell people what you want.

This is called the Hierarchy of treatment decision-makers. If you become unable to make or communicate your own decisions, this means that:

• if you have an Advance Health Directive, it will be used to guide treatment decisions for you
• if you do not have an Advance Health Directive but you have appointed an Enduring Guardian, your Enduring Guardian will be asked to make treatment decisions on your behalf
• if you do not have an Advance Health Directive or an Enduring Guardian, then health professionals will use the list above to find someone to make treatment decisions on your behalf, in the order listed until someone suitable and available is found.

It is important you understand who may make decisions for you. This can help you decide who you need to tell about what is important to you and which advance care planning document(s) would be useful.

What should I do with my completed advance care planning documents?

Pick a safe place to keep your original documents. Tell people close to you where to find them.

Upload a copy to My Health Record (external site) so health professionals can access the information.

You can also give a copy to people you trust :

• family, friends and carers
• enduring guardian(s) (EPG)
• enduring power(s) of attorney (EPA)
• health professionals and specialists (e.g. GP)
• residential aged care home
• local hospital
• legal professional.

Make a list of the people who have a copy of your advance care planning document(s). This will remind you who to contact if you change or cancel your document(s). See Frequently Asked Questions for more information on cancelling and updating documents.

If you decide to make an Advance Health Directive, you can also carry:

• an Advance Health Directive (AHD) alert card in your wallet (order online or contact the Department of Health Advance Care Planning Information Line on 9222 2300 or email acp@health.wa.gov.au).
• a medical alert bracelet or necklace to inform any treating doctors that you have created an Advance Health Directive.