For more information visit www.advancecareplanning.org.nz.

fight to the bitter end, but this is not necessarily how everyone feels so ACP provides the chance for people to outline what’s important to them.

‘‘It’s not about the fight, it’s about the quality of life and what that person actually wants,’’ she says.

David Lean is slowly developing a picture of what he wants his death to look like.

‘‘I don’t want to die in hospital but people don’t know that,’’ he says.

Age has been one of the key factors for his decision to start remedying that knowledge gap and begin to prepare his advance care plan.

Nearing 70, he says he wants to take charge of what the final months of his life will be like, in order to avoid leaving his family with any agonising decisions to make when that time arrives.

‘‘We all know, or have had some experience with family or friends who have had to do the hard yards when these types of decisions weren’t made.’’

Starting the conversation with his wife Janet and children has been interesting Lean says, and not always easy. ‘‘For the average person it takes some time to get to grips with,’’ he says.

‘‘Death and dying were never really talked about and shared in past generations. We avoid it and put it into the too hard basket, put the pamphlets over to the side to try and avoid it.’’

He believes ACP is bit of a sea change for the medical professional, as they look to involve their patients in what is arguably one of the biggest decisions of their life.

‘‘The reality is that the bureaucrats are telling you to be the author of your own destiny,’’ Lean says.

‘‘That’s a big step forward in terms of communication with the public.’’

Lean says if more people took the reigns regarding their end of life care, it could also shift some of the burden of such decisions away from doctors and medical staff. ‘‘That’s one of their biggest and most anguished parts of their daily life and it shouldn’t be.’’

He says it is not a process people should rush into or railroad family members into being part of, but he hopes more people will follow his lead and start talking about how they want the last days of their life to be.

‘‘The most important thing is starting off the conversation first.’’