An advance care plan (ACP) provides guidance to healthcare providers, family members, and your chosen decision-makers in critical situations if you become incapable of making decisions on your own.
Tips & Links
An ACP can serve as a communication tool with those you trust, to help you express your values, beliefs, and final wishes for care and treatment at the end-of-life. It is not itself a legal document however, it may contain legal documents such as your representation agreement, power of attorney (enduring), and/or an advance directive.
What’s Included?
An advance care plan outlines your choices for medical treatment and care in case you become unable to make decisions for yourself. The plan helps you write down your your wishes for the following:
- Your personal values and goals about quality of life, dignity, and comfort in case of serious illness or injury.
- Specific health care instructions about the types of medical treatments you want or do not want, such as life support, resuscitation, or organ donation.
- Appointment of a substitute decision-maker.
- Outline your wishes for end-of-life care, including palliative care, hospice care or other.
Learn More
- Learn about writing an advance care plan by using the ‘My Voice-An Advance Planning Guide’ available in many languages from the Government of BC.
- Complete the templates and discussion questions about advance care planning from Advance Care Planning Canada and BC Centre for Palliative-Care.
- Review the list of resources to learn about advance care planning from Healthlink BC.
- Explore current articles, stories, and resources from Advance Care Planning Canada.
- Learn about ACP and dementia from the Alzheimer’s Society.
- Learn about free legal counselling services on advance care planning from Senior’s First BC.
Share Decisions
- Your physician, nurse practitioner, and specialists should know if you have an advance care plan.
- Your caregivers and care partners should all know if you have a Do Not Resuscitate or No CPR order, a written advance directive or Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (MOST) document, are an organ donor, and/or if you have a written advance care plan.
- Make sure the people who care for you know the location of these documents.
Mywell Health helps you organize your decision documents in one place. Consider filing both digital and print copies under My End of Life Decisions.