An Advanced Health Care Directive is a crucial aspect of ensuring that individuals have their healthcare preferences respected in times of incapacity. By completing essential documents like Enduring Power of Attorney, Advance Health Directive, and Statement of Choices, Queensland residents can proactively plan for their future healthcare needs. 
A Practical Guide to the Advanced Health Care Directive in QLD
This article delves into the detailed processes and requirements involved in an Advanced Health Care Directive, highlighting the significance of communication, regular updates, and legal considerations.
An Advanced Health Care Directive allows individuals to document their values, beliefs, and preferences for healthcare, ensuring that their wishes are known and respected even if they become unable to communicate them in the future. By engaging in care planning, individuals can have peace of mind knowing that their healthcare decisions align with their personal values and priorities.
Key Objectives of Advance Care Planning in Queensland
The primary objectives of An Advanced Health Care Directive in Queensland include:
- Empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their future healthcare.
- Ensuring that individuals' healthcare preferences are respected and followed, even if they are unable to communicate them.
- Providing guidance to substitute decision-makers and healthcare providers on the individual's preferences and values regarding healthcare.
- Promoting open and honest conversations about healthcare preferences and end-of-life care.
Overview of the Documents Involved
An Advanced Health Care Directive involves the completion of several essential documents that help individuals outline their healthcare preferences and appoint substitute decision-makers. The key documents involved in an Advanced Health Care Directive in include:
Enduring Power of Attorney
This document allows individuals to appoint a trusted person to make decisions about their personal and financial matters, including healthcare decisions, if they become unable to do so themselves.
Advance Health Directive
A formal document that provides instructions on future healthcare preferences, specific medical treatments, and decisions to be made on behalf of the individual for health and personal matters.
Statement of Choices
A values-based document where individuals can record their personal values, preferences for care, and acceptable or unacceptable outcomes to guide substitute decision-makers and healthcare providers.
By understanding the importance of an Advanced Health Care Directive, the key objectives in Queensland, and the documents involved, individuals can take proactive steps to ensure that their healthcare preferences are respected and upheld in all future medical decisions.
Let Evaheld be your partner on your Advance Care Planning journey and together we can make sure your loved ones are taken care of.
Types of Advanced Care Planning Documents
Advance Care Planning involves making decisions about future healthcare treatment in advance. In Queensland, individuals have the opportunity to create their advance care plan by completing specific documents that ensure their preferences are respected in future healthcare decisions. Let's explore the three main types of Advance Care Planning documents:
1. Enduring Power of Attorney
The Enduring Power of Attorney is a crucial document that allows individuals to appoint a trusted relative or friend to make decisions on their behalf, especially regarding personal, financial, and healthcare matters, in case they become unable to make decisions themselves. The appointed attorney acts as a substitute decision-maker and must follow the individual's preferences outlined in the document.
2. Advance Health Directive
The Advance Health Directive is another essential document that provides detailed instructions about future healthcare preferences. It includes specific medical treatments and decisions that need to be made on behalf of the individual for both health and personal matters. This formal document ensures that the individual's wishes are known and respected in the event they are unable to communicate their preferences.
3. Statement of Choices
The Statement of Choices is a values-based document where individuals can record their personal values, preferences for care, and acceptable or unacceptable outcomes. Although not legally binding, the Statement of Choices serves as guidance for substitute decision-makers and healthcare providers when making decisions on behalf of the individual who cannot communicate their preferences directly.
It is essential for individuals to appoint trusted individuals as attorneys and communicate their preferences and priorities clearly to ensure that decisions align with their wishes in the future. Regularly reviewing and updating these documents is recommended, especially if there are any changes in health or personal circumstances.
Sharing your Advanced Health Care Directive documents, including Advance Health Directives and Enduring Powers of Attorney, with family members, decision-makers, general practitioners, and authorised clinicians involved in the individual's care is crucial. This ensures that everyone is aware of the individual's preferences and can act accordingly in case of healthcare decisions.
For individuals in Queensland, it is advisable to send copies of completed ACP documents to the Queensland Statewide Office of Advance Care Planning and consider uploading them to My Health Record for easy access. Additionally, downloading and printing a wallet card can inform others about the individual's advance care directive and preferences.
In cases where changes or revocations need to be made to your Advance Care Planning documents, individuals can do so as long as they have the decision-making capacity. Legal information and support services are available to provide detailed guidance on Advance Care Planning laws and procedures.
For individuals requiring information in other languages or seeking assistance, reaching out to the National Advance Care Planning Support ServiceTM is recommended for further advice and support throughout the care planning process. Queensland Health provides updated information and resources to ensure individuals can navigate the care planning process with clarity and understanding.
Learn more about the importance of a secure and easily updatable, accessible and shareable Digital Advance Care Directive
Evaheld
Evaheld is a Legacy and Care planning app that empowers people to easily and enjoyably create, safekeep and deliver all sorts of legacy and care planning content that future-proofs their voice for better care and wellbeing outcomes, as well as preserves their story and legacy for their loved ones and future generations.
People are supported through the entire creation process, with the world’s most comprehensive suite of content types and in-browser video, audio and written content creation (or uploads), and of course secure lifetime storage. People also have full management over their recipient, privacy and delivery preferences, safeguarding their privacy, independence, and connections to loved ones today, and into the future.
Learn more about comprehensive Legacy and Advance Care Planning with Evaheld
Evaheld Care Planning Suite: Empowering Better Care and Wellbeing outcomes today and into the future.
In this article, we delve into Evaheld’s comprehensive Care Planning Suite, designed to empower individuals by preserving their identities and ensuring their wishes for better care and wellbeing today and into the future. The suite comprises two essential sections:
About Me
Evaheld’s “About Me” section captures vital content that preserves a person’s identity and personality. Future caregivers gain valuable insights into an individual’s character, enabling them to align care outcomes with the person’s unique attributes—even if communication becomes challenging or impossible. This section includes Evaheld’s most popular self-preservation content and expert-curated questionnaires from Dementia Support Australia, providing a holistic view of the person’s life:
Produced by Evaheld
- “My Memoir” - A fulfilling and profound way to encapsulate a person’s life, character, values and most significant moments.
- “Legacy Letter” aka Ethical Will - An impactful way to encapsulate your most important life experiences and transmit your values and blessings to your children, grandchildren, or other loved ones.
Produced by Dementia Support Australia
- “About Me - In Brief”: A concise overview of personal preferences, interests, and lifestyle.
- “About Me - In Depth”: A more detailed exploration of the individual’s background, values, and life experiences.
- “Lifestyle and Social History”: A comprehensive overview which provides a holistic view of the person’s life.
Advance Care Planning
Evaheld’s Advance Care Planning section focuses on preserving autonomy and preferences related to medical care today and into the future. It addresses scenarios where individuals may be unable to make decisions due to incapacity at that future time, whether in the short or long term. Key features of this section include:
Comprehensive Advance Care Plan Questionnaire
- The platform prompts you with a comprehensive questionnaire covering various aspects of your care preferences.
- You’ll answer questions related to medical treatments, life-sustaining interventions, and quality-of-life considerations.
- Evaheld’s Advance Care Plan covers all of the essential elements of a comprehensive Advance Care Directive, including:
- Personal details
- Guardianship
- Personal Values
- Emergency Preferences
- Care Preferences
- Organ & Tissue Donation
- Personal Notes
- Doctor & Health Team Details
- Party Assisting with Documenting
- Statement of Understanding
- Witness Statement
- The platform prompts you with a comprehensive questionnaire covering various aspects of your care preferences.
- You’ll answer questions related to medical treatments, life-sustaining interventions, and quality-of-life considerations.
- Evaheld’s Advance Care Plan covers all of the essential elements of a comprehensive Advance Care Directive, including:
Personalised Choices
- Based on your responses, Evaheld tailors your advance care plan to your specific wishes.
- You can express your preferences regarding resuscitation, hospitalization, pain management, and more.
User-Friendly Interface
- Evaheld provides an intuitive platform that guides you through the process step by step.
- The user-friendly interface ensures that you can create your advance care plan without any technical difficulties.
Legal Validity
- The digital advance care plan generated by Evaheld is legally valid.
- It serves as a Common Law Advance Care Directive, ensuring that your wishes are legally recognized.
Emergency Access
- Your advance care plan is accessible 24/7 via a QR code.
- In emergencies, healthcare providers can quickly scan the QR code to access your preferences and provide appropriate care.
Trusted Contacts
- Evaheld automatically shares your plan with trusted contacts.
- Nurses, carers, doctors, and emergency department staff can access the information when needed.
Peace of Mind for Families
- By creating an advance care plan, you relieve your loved ones from making difficult decisions during critical moments.
- Your family will appreciate your thoughtful preparation, and conflicts can be minimised.
Australian-Based and Secure
- All data is stored securely on Australian servers (ISO 27001 certified).
- You can trust that your information is safe and confidential.
Remember that advance care planning is essential for ensuring that your healthcare preferences are known and respected. Evaheld streamlines this process, making it accessible and legally valid.
By combining identity preserving About Me and choice preserving Advance Care planning, Evaheld ensures that individuals’ voices are heard, and their wishes carried out, throughout their care journey.
Secure your care and wellbeing with Evaheld
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