Advanced care planning at any age

Editor’s Note: This column, provided by the Leamington Area Family Health Team, is part of a series of monthly guest columns about health. This month’s column deals with choosing a substitute decision maker for yourself.

Covid-19 has many of us feeling afraid and uncertain about the future.

During the uncertainty surrounding a pandemic like Covid-19, something within your control can be planning who will make health care decisions for you if you were unable to speak for yourself.

The term used in Ontario for this person is Substitute Decision Maker (SDM). Advanced Care Planning describes the process of reflecting and communicating your values and wishes to your SDM.

Advanced Care Planning involves two main steps:

STEP 1: Identifying your SDM

In Ontario, there are two different ways to identify your SDM:

1) The Health Care Consent Act provides a hierarchical list of your possible automatic SDMs, as outlined in the chart below. The individual(s) highest on the list is your automatic SDM.

2) If you prefer to have someone else other than your automatic SDM then you can choose to name a person to act as your SDM by preparing a document called a Power of Attorney for Personal Care.

STEP 2: Communicating your Wishes

Think about your values, wishes and beliefs and start having conversations with your SDM as that will help them understand how you would like to be cared for in the future.

It is important that your SDM knows what is important to you and helps to answer what ‘Quality of Life’ means to you.

Ultimately, Advanced Care Planning conversations help prepare your SDM to step into your shoes if needed and guide future health care decisions in the event that you cannot make those decisions for yourself.

For more information visit www.speakupontario.ca for resources on SDMs and Advanced Care Planning.

If you are a patient of the Leamington and Area Family Health Team, you may also ask your health care provider or call Kate at 519-322-1100 ext 105.