New community resource

Palliative Care WA and the Advance Care Planning WA Consortium are pleased to announce the development of an important new tool to encourage more members of the WA community to have some say over the last part of their lives by undertaking advance care planning.

Advance Care Planning is the process of making plans that cover your future care, lifestyle, health and finances. With under 5% of Western Australians undertaking advance care planning, many in the WA Community have not been getting the end-of-life they would choose.

It’s important to acknowledge how powerful the collaborative effort has been to develop this new WA resource. Facilitated by Palliative Care WA, a network of like-minded organisations, agencies and individuals has been working together to facilitate an increased uptake of advance care planning across WA. This Consortium includes representatives from palliative care, aged care, home care,  disability and community services, peak bodies, health consumers, research and education, and Government.

For the last 18 months the Consortium has concentrated on reviewing various educational models available and then developing and testing an approach designed for Western Australians.

My Future Care breaks down what’s involved in advance care planning into a simple 4-step process – Think, Talk, Write, Share. It highlights the importance of starting advance care planning early in life, provides information on relevant documents and other tools, and explains where people can go to learn more.

This new Western Australian resource has tested by a range of local community and sector groups and is now available for use by members of the WA community. You can download the 2-page handout HERE.  For more information on advance care planning click HERE.

Our aim is to increase the number of people in WA undertaking advance care planning.

Our hope is that more Western Australians get the end-of-life experience they choose.