Run eyes over your directives

ALMOST a third of Advance Care Directives (ACDs) audited in Australian residential aged care facilities were found to be invalid following a nationwide study.

Research led by Advance Care Planning Australia revealed that 30 per cent of ACDs in residential aged care had been completed by someone else (usually family members) on behalf of a non competent person. Unsettlingly, 68 per cent of those documents included instructions for withholding lifesustaining treatment such as tube feeding or intravenous antibiotics.

With a rapidly ageing Australian population, there’s a growing community expectation that people will continue to make their own medical treatment choices well into their senior years. Consumer dignity and choice was identified as the foundation quality standard by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission in July 2019, highlighting a person’s right to make informed choices.

An Advance Care Directive is a legal document outlining a person’s preferences and instructions for their future health care. The document comes into effect when a person is no longer capable of making their own medical decisions, providing a sense of certainty, choice and control in the face of declining health.

However ACDs are only legal when completed and signed by person with decision-making capacity. This oversight could leave a resident at risk of being denied access to medical treatment.

For more information on ACPA’s position statement on ACDs in aged care and ACPA’s ACP implementation guide for aged care see advancecareplanning.org.au.