Advance Care Planning for General Practitioners

Presenter: Dr Margi Gould, GP Educator & Decision Assist ACP Trainer

The Advance Care Planning Initiative supports local health, legal and financial professionals and community members to promote Advance Care Planning and is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services.

About

Advance Care Planning (ACP) supports people's preferences for future healthcare being known and respected if they can no longer communicate their wishes. There is significant evidence of the benefits of, and need for, ACP. This need is growing given Australia's ageing population, the increasing proportion of people expected to die from chronic progressive illnesses and the evolution of healthcare from 'cure' to management of chronic and incurable conditions and frailty. In this context, planning for decisions about what future health care and treatments a person would or would not want is crucial.

Practically, ACP assists people to consider, discuss and document: Their goals, values and preferences regarding future healthcare, including:

• what would be an unacceptable outcome and
• any treaments they would or would not want

Their choice of substitute decision maker (SDM) should they become incapable of making decisions about their healthcare.

Overview

This interactive workshop reviews the rationale and benefits of Advance Care Planning. It then offers a practical approach to incorporating it into general practice and discussion of local implementation issues.

Learning outcomes

• Explain the value of, and need for Advance Care Planning
• Ability to identify patients for whom Advance Care Planning discussions are indicated
• Exercise the skills required to conduct an Advance Care Planning discussion
• Understand the legal and practical issues regarding Advance Care Planning in the North East & Border region
• Incorporate Advance Care Planning in your practice
• Preview the Murray HealthPathways draft Advance Care Planning page

This event is targeted at a GP audience.

This event is provided at no cost by Murray PHN and Advance Care Planning Initiative (East Hume and Border).