Planning for end of life a must – yet most don’t do it
Planning early for end of life is essential for people with dementia, yet most do not do it while they can still make their own decisions.
Understanding what care planning options are legally available is vital to ensuring a person’s wishes for their end of life are recorded and respected when the time comes, said Professor Colleen Cartwright, who has written a new report on the topic for Alzheimer’s Australia.
“There are difficult decisions to be made and people need to understand what their legal rights are and to ensure that they will be protected, especially in cases where the person in the end stages of life has dementia,” said Professor Cartwright, who is the Director of the ASLaRC Aged Services Unit in the Health and Wellbeing Research Cluster at Southern Cross University.
“Taking the steps to plan in the early stages of dementia is fundamental and talking to your family, carers, friends and doctors is essential.”
Professor Cartwright is the author of the new publication and seminar series for Alzheimer’s Australia “Planning for the End of Life for People with Dementia: Part One”. It was developed in consultation with members of the Alzheimer’s Australia National Consumer Advisory Committee (NCAC).
The publication discusses issues including palliative care, refusal of treatment, pain control, resuscitation, residential care, advance financial planning and enduring power of attorney.
The publication and seminar series have been developed to provide a guide to people with dementia and their families and carers about the legal options that people have available to them to record their wishes.
“Research has found that very few people want to leave such decisions to their family or doctor, with most preferring to make their own decisions,” Prof Cartwright said.
