Advanced Care Planning: Making Your Wishes Known Before It’s Too Late

How many times have you heard someone say, “I never want to be kept alive on machines”? Yet research shows that only 29% of older Australians have documented their advance care planning.

The truth is, the gap between what we say and what we do can leave families in crisis when medical decisions need to be made. But when you take the time to plan, you give yourself and your family control during the challenging moments.

That’s why our team at PalAssist helps people work through these important conversations with compassion and clear guidance. 

Here’s what you’ll learn in this article:

• What advance care planning means and why it protects your family
• How to discuss treatment preferences with doctors and loved ones
• Common barriers to planning and practical ways to overcome them
• Modern digital tools that make creating your documents easier

Don’t leave your family guessing. Let’s explore how to make your voice heard when it counts.

The Meaning of Advanced Care Planning

Advanced care planning is the process of thinking about and documenting your preferences for future medical treatment before you need it. This proactive approach ensures your voice guides decisions about your care when you’re unable to speak for yourself. 

When you take time to consider what is most important to you, these discussions help everyone understand your values and priorities for different health scenarios.

Here are the main parts of advance care planning that can protect you and your family:

What Are Advance Directives?

Advance directives are the legal documents that let you say what you want for your care when you can’t communicate those decisions yourself.

For example, if you don’t want to be resuscitated or prefer comfort care over aggressive treatments, these documents spell out your specific wishes. Your advance care directives become legally binding instructions for your medical team and family members.

Beyond basic treatment preferences, these documents can include instructions about life support, pain management, and other medical interventions. They also allow you to name someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf if needed. 

So, you’ll feel relieved knowing that your wishes will be respected and your family won’t have to guess what you would want during a difficult time.

Why It’s Important to Talk to Your Loved Ones

Before creating any formal documents, it’s important to talk to your loved ones to ensure they understand your values and can support your decisions.

We understand these conversations feel uncomfortable, and many families avoid them altogether. However, the reason for these talks is simple: speaking openly about your wishes brings families closer together and reduces stress during medical emergencies.

Here’s how these discussions help:

• Reduces family guilt and conflict.
• Clarifies your personal values clearly.
• Prepares everyone for difficult decisions.

What’s more, when you share your thoughts about end-of-life care with your loved ones, they can confidently advocate for your plan when the time comes.

Once you’ve had these important conversations with your family, the next step involves making major decisions about your future medical care preferences.

Major Decisions for Future Medical Care

Thinking about specific medical treatments and what you’d want in different health situations can feel overwhelming. Don’t worry. We’ve got your back.

In this section, we’re going to talk about the important decisions you’ll need to consider and how to work with your healthcare team to make choices that match your values and goals.

Discussing Specific Treatments with Health Professionals

The first step is to simply talk with your health professionals about your goals for medical care. 

In this way, they can help you understand what different treatments involve and guide you through scenarios you might face. These conversations help you make informed decisions about your future care based on your personal wishes.

Here’s what to discuss with your healthcare team:

• Your values and what quality of life means to you.
• Specific treatments you would or wouldn’t want. 
• Your concerns about pain management and comfort.
• How aggressive do you want medical interventions to be?

Helpful Tip: Bring a trusted family member to these appointments so they can also understand your preferences and ask questions you might not think of.

Understanding the Role of Comfort Care

Once you understand your treatment options, it’s important to consider comfort care as part of your planning. Rather than trying to cure illness, comfort care focuses on relieving pain and symptoms, which many people prefer during end-of-life care.

Your advance care planning documents can specify comfort care preferences such as:

• Pain relief is the top priority.
• Staying at home with loved ones when possible.
• Avoiding hospital stays unless necessary.

Now that you understand the decisions involved in advance care planning, let’s address some common concerns that might be holding you back from getting started.

Overcoming Barriers to Planning Ahead

Many people put off advance care planning because they worry it’s too complicated or that they’re giving up hope. That’s completely understandable because most of us would rather focus on staying healthy than thinking about difficult scenarios.

The reality is that planning gives you more control because it ensures your voice will be heard when you need it most.

Let’s look at the common barriers and how to work through them.

• Common Challenges and Concerns: People avoid advance care planning because they find it hard to talk about serious illness or don’t want to think about their future health needs. However, the best part about advance care planning is that you can always update your preferences as your life changes.

• Maintaining Decision-Making Authority: Another common worry is that advance care planning takes away your decision-making capacity. But this isn’t true because your plan simply guides your health professionals when you can’t speak for yourself. There’s no loss of control as you stay fully in charge of all medical decisions (as long as you’re able to communicate).

We once helped a family whose father had created advance care directives years earlier, but was still making his own medical decisions during treatment. His family members felt confident supporting his choices because they already knew his values from previous conversations.

It turned out that having a plan in place made it easier for everyone to respect his wishes while he was still actively involved in his care.

Modern Tools for Your Advanced Care Plan

After you’ve worked through the common concerns about advance care planning, you’ll need to know about the practical tools available to help you create and store your documents.

The good news is that technology has made it much easier to complete your planning and ensure the right people can access your wishes when needed. What’s more, there are now digital options that can simplify the entire process for you and your family.

Here are the modern tools that can make advanced care planning less overwhelming.

Using Digital Documents and Apps

Ever wondered if there’s an easier way to create your advance care directives than filling out complicated paper forms? Yes, that’s possible. 

When you use digital platforms, several options now let you complete your living will and other advance care directives online with step-by-step guidance.

What’s helpful is that these tools walk you through your preferences in plain language and help you share the finished documents with your loved ones instantly. Even better, many apps also send reminders to review and update your plans regularly.

Useful Tip: Choose platforms like My Health Record that let you download copies of your documents so you’re not completely dependent on the digital service staying available.

Ensuring Your Plan is Accessible

We generally recommend our clients store copies of their plan in multiple places so their doctors and family can find them quickly during emergencies. The most important thing is making sure your substitute decision maker knows where to locate your documents when they’re needed.

For this reason, consider giving copies to your GP (general practitioner), keeping one in your wallet, and storing another with important family papers at home.

After all, nobody wants their carefully planned wishes to sit hidden in a drawer when their family needs them most.

Take Control of Your Future with PalAssist

Many Australians get caught up in daily life and put off thinking about their healthcare wishes. But what they don’t understand is that this delay can leave families facing heartbreaking decisions during medical emergencies. When you plan ahead, you can avoid putting loved ones through unnecessary stress.

We’ve covered the meaning of advance care planning, the decisions you’ll need to make, and how to overcome common barriers that hold people back. You’ve also learned about modern tools and practical steps to ensure your wishes are properly documented and accessible.

When you’re ready to start your advance care planning journey, we are ready to help you every day (7 am-7 pm) via online chat and callback services.