Advance care planning, guided by someone who has sat with hundreds of families.

Advance care planning is the process of thinking about, discussing and recording what medical treatment and care you would want if a time came when you could not speak for yourself. It usually results in a written advance care directive and the appointment of someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf. It is often searched for as advanced care planning, and the two terms mean the same thing.

An advance care directive is the legal document that records your healthcare wishes, your values, the treatment you would refuse, and who you appoint as your substitute decision-maker. In South Australia the Advance Care Directive form, made under the Advance Care Directives Act 2013 (SA), replaced the older Medical Power of Attorney, Enduring Power of Guardianship and Anticipatory Direction. Other states and territories have their own equivalent forms.

A will directs what happens to your property after you die. An advance care directive directs your medical treatment and care while you are still alive but unable to speak for yourself. They cover entirely different ground, and most people need both.

Generally no. An advance care directive is a statutory form you can complete yourself, though it must be witnessed by an authorised witness to be valid. What most people find difficult is not the form but the conversation behind it — which is exactly what our advance care conferencing is for. We do not provide legal advice.

A substitute decision-maker is the person you appoint in your advance care directive to make healthcare, accommodation and personal decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. They are expected to make the decision you would have made, guided by the wishes you have recorded. An advance care directive does not cover financial decisions, which are usually handled through a separate enduring power of attorney.

It is a single guided session of about 90 minutes, held by video so family members in different states can all take part. A registered nurse facilitates, asks the questions families tend to avoid, makes sure the person whose directive it is stays at the centre of it, and helps translate the discussion into the wording of the directive. Fees are $595, agreed before we begin.

Yes. Advance care conferencing is delivered nationally by telehealth, and we work with your own state or territory's official advance care directive form. We are based in Adelaide and also offer in-person sessions in South Australia.

Yes, and many people do. The Advance Care Planning Workbook ($30) is a national, workbook-style companion to your state's official advance care directive form. It walks you through the same questions at your own pace so you can transfer your answers to the form with confidence.

While you are well, and while you can still speak clearly for yourself. Advance care planning done in a hospital corridor during a crisis is a far poorer version of the same conversation. If you are over 50, facing a new diagnosis, moving into aged care, or supporting an ageing parent, it is worth doing now.

The person whose directive it is, the person or people they intend to appoint as substitute decision-makers, and generally the adult children or close family who would otherwise be left guessing. Having everyone hear the same thing at the same time is what prevents disagreement later.