Happy National Advance Care Planning Week from the team at PCQ!
National Advance Care Planning Week runs from 21st to 27th March 2022. It is the perfect time to attend an event or start a conversation with your loved ones, about what’s important to you. There are several events, workshops and resources available this week, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to share key information with you.
Important life choices are planned, so talk about your choices today. Advance care planning gives you a voice in your health care, no matter what the future brings. Advance Care Planning Australia has developed a range of resources and supports to help understand advance care planning and the processes involved in formulating a care plan.
What is Advance Care Planning?
Advance care planning is the process of planning for your future health care. It relates to the health care you would or would not like to receive if you were to become seriously ill or injured and are unable to communicate your preferences or make decisions. This often relates to the care you receive at the end of your life.
Advance care planning gives you the opportunity to think about, discuss and record your preferences for the type of care you would receive and the outcomes you would consider acceptable. It helps to ensure your loved ones and doctors know what your health and personal preferences are and that these preferences are respected. Ideally, advance care planning will result in your preferences being documented in a plan known as an advance care directive and the appointment of a substitute decision-maker, to help ensure your preferences are respected.
Watch Advance Care Planning Australia’s overview video.
Why is Advance Care Planning important?
Advance care planning benefits everyone: you, your family, carers and health professionals. It is important because:
- It helps to ensure you receive the care you actually want.
- It improves ongoing and end-of-life care, along with personal and family satisfaction.
- Families of people who have undertaken advance care planning have less anxiety, depression, stress and are more satisfied with care
- For healthcare professionals and organisations, it reduces unnecessary transfers to acute care and unwanted treatment
- If you haven’t documented your preferences or identified a substitute decision-maker, and you become seriously ill or injured, doctors will make treatment decisions based on their assessment of your best interests. This may include treatments that you would not want.
Advance Care Planning in Queensland
In Queensland we are fortunate to have the My Care My Choices program, which is a Queensland Governance advance care planning initiative. They provide information and support regarding all steps of ACPs for both community members and health professionals.
“Age, illness or accident may at some time make it hard for you to make decisions about your health care.” www.mycaremychoice.com.au
National Advance Care Planning Week – Queensland Events
There are a number of events taking place across Advance Care Planning Week; here are our top picks.
FREE Palliative Care Queensland Community Webinar: What Matters Most
As part of Advance Care Planning Week, we are hosting a FREE community webinar: What Matters Most. Bringing together experts to share their experiences and advice in relation to discussion starters, advance care planning and understanding what is important to someone at the end-of-life phase. This session aims to support community members to better understand their role in their own care planning, as well as how to support their loved ones.
Learn more and register today, the session starts at 12 noon and includes a Q&A session. If you cannot make the session, please register and you will be sent a copy of the webinar recording.
Office of Advanced Care Planning – Virtual Forum
The Statewide Office of Advance Care Planning is hosting a Virtual Forum during National ACP Week. Suitable for health professionals and interested consumers. The 2022 Forum will run as virtual lunchbox sessions, ending with a special expert panel discussion featuring a hypothetical clinical scenario. All sessions will be live-streamed via Microsoft Teams. Forum details and registration.
Monday, 21 March 2022
- Lunchbox Session 1: 12:00-12:30pm. Keynote address – Dr Denise Hobson, general physician and geriatrician at the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital.
- Lunchbox session 2: , 12:30-1:00pm . Statewide Office of ACP update – Leanne Clemesha, Clinical Nurse Consultant, Statewide Office of ACP, Queensland Health.
Tuesday, 22 March 2022
- Lunchbox session 1: 12:00-12:30pm – Understanding Enduring Powers of Attorney and Advance Health Directives, Tips and Tricks – Loan Chow, YHC Lawyers.
- Lunchbox session 2: 12:30-1:00pm – Voluntary Assisted Dying in Queensland – Dr Bav Manoharan, Clinical Lead, Voluntary Assisted Dying Implementation and Hayley McNamara, Voluntary Assisted Dying Clinical Policy Manager, Queensland Health.
Wednesday, 23 March 2022
- Lunchbox session 1: 12:00-12:30pm – Consumer viewpoint on ACP – Helen Mees, Consumer representative.
- Lunchbox session 2: 12:30-1:00pm – Facilitating ACP – Ros Holloway and Clarita Lauron, Advance Care Planning Clinical Nurses, West Moreton Health.
Thursday, 24 March 2022
- Lunchbox session 1: 12:00-12:30pm – ACP: Advocating for Consumer Power. Denise Craig OAM. Psychologist, PhD Candidate, Advance Care Planner.
- Lunchbox session 2: 12:30-1:00pm – Models of ACP – Kevin Heisner, Clinical Nurse Consultant Advance Care Planning, Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service.
Friday, 25 March 2022
- ACP and COVID: from the big smoke to the bush. 12:00pm – 1:30pm. – A case study panel discussion on advance care planning, capacity and end-of-life care decision making across care environments.
- Panel members :
– Dr Prem Ram, Palliative Care Medical Specialist, Sunshine Coast Specialist Palliative Care Rural Telehealth Service
– Lesley McLeod, Nurse Practitioner and Project Manager, PallConsult
– Colette Bots, Family , Domestic Violence and Elder Law Practice Director, Older Persons Advocacy and Legal Service Representative, Caxton Legal Centre Inc
– Angel Bogicevic – Multicultural Clinical Support Officer, Metro South Health
– Kate Andersen – Consumer representative.
PalliLearn Online Educations Sessions: What Matters Most to Me?
What is important to someone at the end-of-life phase and Advance Care Planning? Find out in our 60 minute online education course that focuses on discussion starters, advance care planning and understanding what is important to someone at the end-of-life phase. As part of Advance Care Planning Week, we are facilitating the same topic multiple times online:
- March 21, 2022, 9:00 am – 10:00 am – Register
- March 21, 2022, 10:30 am – 11:30 am – Register
- March 21, 2022, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Register
- March 24, 2022, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – Register
Places are limited and FREE for people living or working in: Brisbane South region, Townsville area and the Sunshine Coast area.
These courses are delivered as part of PalliChat Brisbane south project, the Connecting End of Life in Townsville (CELC-T) project and supported by Sunshine Hospice, therefore only community members living or working in the Brisbane South region, Townsville area and Sunshine Coast are eligible to attend for free. For residents outside of these regions attendance of this PalliLearn education course is priced at $10pp or $8pp for PCQ Members and concession card holders. Please visit our website for further information.
