In an era filled with unpredictability, the one certainty we often overlook is the unpredictability of our health. While we can’t foresee every twist and turn our health might take, we can prepare by expressing our care preferences in advance.
Imagine a scenario where you’re unable to recognize your surroundings, yourself, or those around you. What choices would you want made about your care? The decision to use life support or to allow natural progression without aggressive interventions can be predetermined through an Advance Care Plan (ACP).
What is an Advance Care Plan (ACP)
An ACP is essentially your voice in the event of a severe medical situation where you cannot speak for yourself. It is a plan made in advance, reflecting your healthcare preferences based on your values and beliefs. By choosing a nominated healthcare spokesperson (NHS), you ensure that your wishes are communicated clearly, reducing the burden on your family during difficult times.
Why do I need an Advance Care Plan (ACP)
An Advance Care Plan (ACP) is a vital tool for ensuring that your healthcare aligns with your personal values and wishes, especially in situations where you might not be able to communicate them yourself.
Advance Care Planning is more than just a set of documents; it’s a conversation about your values, beliefs, and wishes regarding your future healthcare. It involves reflecting on what matters most to you and how these priorities should be honored in situations where you’re unable to make decisions for yourself.
By engaging in ACP, you create a living testament of your healthcare preferences, appointing a healthcare spokesperson who can faithfully represent your choices in critical times.
Here are the reasons why you might consider creating an ACP:
Clarifies Your Healthcare Preferences
Engaging in ACP allows you to reflect on and articulate what is most important to you in terms of your healthcare. This could include decisions about the use of life-sustaining treatments in scenarios such as a coma, where you might not be aware of your surroundings or able to communicate.
Prevents Unwanted Medical Interventions
Without an ACP, you might receive aggressive treatments that don’t align with your values or wishes, potentially leading to prolonged medical care, increased suffering, and higher medical costs. An ACP helps prevent this by clearly outlining your preferences regarding such treatments.
Empowers a Trusted Voice
An ACP enables you to designate a healthcare spokesperson—often a close family member or friend—who understands your preferences and can advocate for them if you’re incapacitated. This ensures that decisions made on your behalf are based on an informed understanding of your wishes.
Express Your Wishes
ACP allows you to outline your preferences for medical treatment and end-of-life care, ensuring your healthcare aligns with your values.
Ease Family Burdens
It reduces the emotional and decision-making stress on your loved ones by clearly stating your healthcare preferences.
What ACP Covers
Creating an Advance Care Plan (ACP) is a comprehensive process designed to ensure your healthcare preferences are known and respected, especially in scenarios where you may not be able to communicate your wishes. Here’s what the ACP typically covers:
Personal Experiences
Discussions may begin with your personal experiences or those of friends and family who have faced serious illnesses. These experiences can profoundly influence your views on medical care and end-of-life decisions.
The Concept of Living Well
Defining what “living well” means to you is crucial. This can vary greatly from person to person and involves considerations of quality of life, independence, and what makes life enjoyable and meaningful.
Choosing a Nominated Healthcare Spokesperson
Selecting a trusted individual to act as your voice in medical decisions if you’re unable to communicate. This person should understand your values and wishes and be willing and able to advocate on your behalf.
Medical Care Goals in Serious Illness or Injury
Exploring your preferences for care in the event of a serious health crisis, especially when further aggressive treatment might not improve your condition. This includes decisions about life-sustaining treatment versus comfort care, based on your personal values and understanding of potential outcomes.
Comfort Care vs. Life-Sustaining Treatment
Determining under what conditions you would prefer measures aimed at comfort and quality of life over those intended to prolong life, especially when recovery isn’t expected.
Personal Beliefs and Values
Discussing how your cultural, spiritual, or religious beliefs influence your preferences for medical care and end-of-life decisions. This ensures that your care plan respects and aligns with these beliefs.
Funeral Arrangements and Final Wishes
Although not always included, discussing and documenting your preferences for after you’ve passed away can be part of the ACP process. This might cover burial or cremation, memorial services, and any specific rites or ceremonies important to you.
The Difference Between ACP and Advance Medical Directive (AMD)
The difference between an Advance Care Plan (ACP) and an Advance Medical Directive (AMD) primarily lies in their scope and specific functions regarding healthcare decisions:
Scope of Decisions:
ACP: It is comprehensive, covering a wide array of personal and healthcare preferences. This plan encompasses your wishes about different types of care you would want or not want in various medical situations, including but not limited to end-of-life care. It’s about ensuring your values and preferences are known and can guide decisions across a broad spectrum of scenarios, not just those involving life-sustaining treatment.
AMD: This is a more specific legal document that narrowly focuses on the refusal of extraordinary life-sustaining treatment when death is imminent, and recovery is not expected. It’s essentially a declaration about not prolonging life artificially when there is no hope of recovery, such as in cases of terminal illness where the patient is unconscious and cannot make decisions.
Legal and Personal Representation:
ACP: Involves selecting a Nominated Healthcare Spokesperson (NHS) who can speak on your behalf, based on the preferences you’ve discussed and documented. This person plays a critical role in ensuring your healthcare team knows and understands your wishes, especially when you’re unable to communicate them yourself.
AMD: Does not involve a spokesperson. It is a direct instruction from you to healthcare providers, applicable in very specific medical conditions — terminal illness with no consciousness and no capability of making decisions. The AMD speaks for you in these narrowly defined circumstances, without the need for interpretation by others.
Taking the first step
Taking the step to complete an Advance Care Plan (ACP) involves a straightforward process, and it’s a service offered at no cost. Here’s what you should do:
Find a Trained Facilitator
Look for trained facilitators who are associated with government-appointed providers in Singapore. Facilities such as Life Point, SATA, and various polyclinics offer these services. These facilitators are equipped to guide you through the ACP process, ensuring that your plan accurately reflects your healthcare preferences.
Visit an ACP Community Node
Across Singapore, there are designated ACP Community Nodes. These nodes are accessible points of contact where you can initiate the ACP process. They are strategically located to make the process as convenient as possible, so consider visiting the one closest to you.
Understand the Value for Your Loved Ones: Completing an ACP is a profound act of consideration for your family and friends. It significantly reduces the burden on them in making critical healthcare decisions on your behalf during stressful times. By clearly outlining your wishes, you provide them with guidance and peace of mind, knowing they are respecting your choices.
Empower Yourself
Beyond the benefits to your loved ones, an ACP empowers you to have a say in your future healthcare. It ensures that your preferences are known and respected, even if you’re unable to communicate them yourself. This proactive step ensures that your care aligns with your values and desires.
Remember, completing an ACP is not just a practical measure for unforeseen health emergencies; it’s a compassionate guide for your loved ones and a declaration of your autonomy in healthcare decisions. With no associated costs and accessible services throughout Singapore, it’s an invaluable step to take for anyone looking to have their healthcare wishes known and respected.
Conclusion
An Advance Care Plan is not just a document but a gift of clarity and peace for both you and your loved ones. By making your healthcare preferences known in advance, you alleviate the burden on your family and ensure your medical care aligns with your values. In today’s unpredictable world, having an ACP is a step towards preparedness, compassion, and dignity in healthcare decisions.
Summary:
- Advance Care Planning (ACP) outlines your healthcare and personal care preferences for the future.
- It’s a forward-looking care plan created at no cost, designed to clarify your desires regarding medical treatment.
- Should you face a critical medical situation, your designated healthcare spokesperson (NHS) is empowered to represent your choices if you’re incapacitated.