Safeguarding Ireland is encouraging more people to make a future healthcare plan – called an Advance Healthcare Directive – as just four per cent of people in Ireland have one.
An Advance Healthcare Directive is a document in which a person writes down their future healthcare decisions on refusals and consents regarding treatment, surgery, medicines and resuscitation.
Safeguarding Ireland Chairperson, Patricia Rickard-Clarke, said the uptake of Advance Healthcare Directives is very low in Ireland compared to other countries, and more uptake is needed.
She also encouraged more health and social care professionals to make future healthcare plans with patients and clients, at a time when they are well and have decision-making capacity: “Making an Advance Healthcare Directive is an important part of protecting rights and ensuring that our wishes will be respected if in the future a person does not have decision-making capacity. It is also better for doctors and families to have clarity on a person’s choices and wishes.
“The plan only comes into effect if there comes a time in the future when a person cannot make or communicate healthcare decisions. This could be due to the progression of a frailty, dementia, a serious illness, a physical or intellectual disability, or a sudden accident.
“Safeguarding Ireland is promoting that all adults, and particularly those using healthcare services or who may face future capacity challenges, make an Advance Healthcare Directive and share it with those who need to know. Making one is free of charge and not difficult to do."
The recommended step to making one is to complete either of the Advance Healthcare Directive templates available at the Decision Support Service website (www.decisionsupportservice.ie ) or the Irish Hospice Foundation Think Ahead portal (www.thinkahead.ie ).
Once made, healthcare professionals are bound to adhere to a person’s refusals and to make every effort to provide the treatments they would like to receive. Also, there is clarity on who can act on a person’s behalf.
More information is available at www.safeguardingireland.org
