What is Advance Care Planning?

Advance care planning (ACP) is a voluntary process. It gives you an opportunity to share your wishes and preferences for future care, based on what matters most to you. Documenting this helps guide your future health care. This can be important if you become too poorly or are unable to make or express choices at the point of care.

People who have completed advance care planning tell us how it reassures them to know that their individual wishes are documented and how this can influence their personalised care.

Advance care planning also supports friends and family during times of crisis, by ensuring that the important people in your life can see your preferences for care, relieving them of the burden of uncertainty.

This process may involve more than one conversation over time and can be with whoever you want to involve.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire - Dying Well (icb.nhs.uk) has a short introduction to advance care planning where you can find some helpful videos.

Read information on the universal principles for advance care planning.

Read the easy read leaflet which explains advance care planning.

 

Do you have a long-term health condition? A condition that is not getting better and life limiting?

 

Use the My Wishes template to write down your wishes and what matters to you the most. It helps those around you know what is important to you, should there be a time when you are unable to communicate this yourself. The My Wishes template has three sections:

 

Part A – About me

  • What matters to you?
  • What important things do you want health and care professional to know?Who supports you?

 

Part B – Health

  • Who cares for you?
  • Decisions you have made e.g. in a ReSPECT plan 
  • Plan/s I have made with health care professionals

 

Part C – Future plans

  • Decisions for when I die (e.g. preferred place of death)

 

It is completed by you and remains your document, to share with professionals, family and carers.

The NHS England website has more information on  Advance statement about your wishes

 

The ReSPECT process creates personalised recommendations for your clinical care and treatment in a future emergency if you are unable to make or express choices. These recommendations are created through conversations between you, your healthcare professionals, and other people important to you if you wish. The goal of the conversation is to understand what matters to you and what is realistic in terms of your care and treatment.

ReSPECT | Resuscitation Council UK has more information on the ReSPECT process.