Advance Care Directives

are important documents and the issues in them should be given serious consideration.

For those of you in other parts of the world - an "Advance Care Directive" is a legal document giving someone the power to make decisions for you if, and only if, you cannot make those decisions yourself.

It is not a Power of Attorney. It does not give someone the right to make financial decisions on your behalf.  

It is giving someone else the right to make decisions about your future health care, your living arrangements and your personal care if you cannot do this yourself.

It does not allow someone else to interfere if you can make decisions for yourself. It does not allow them to make decisions which are not in your best interest. The person granted the power has to make the decisions s/he believes you would make.

My doctor nephew has been granted that authority by me. We talked about it. He knows what I want. I have to trust that, should the time come, he will do what he believes I would do. That's how this works. I am fortunate in that I have someone like him that I do trust and he is willing to take on that role. Hopefully he will never need to do anything but it is there if needed.

I can revoke it at any time. That is important too. If something happens to him and he cannot - or is no longer willing to - carry out that role then it is essential to be able to do that.

All this came up yesterday for two reasons. The first was a letter from our local MP.  She had organised a forum with a speaker for "seniors" to discuss  ACDs but the Covid19 restrictions had caused it to be postponed. It can now go ahead in a different venue with the restrictions in mind and she has reorganised it. 

This is the very sort of thing an MP should be doing. She mentioned it to me at another meeting where she had organised an excellent speaker to talk about Alzheimer's and related dementia issues. Did I think it was a good idea? My answer was an enthusiastic "yes!". We need more of that sort of thing/

Then, later in the day, I had an email from our friend P.... telling me that her sister had just had major bowel surgery. Her sister is 83 and has been far from well for some time. I am fond of her sister, as is the Senior Cat. All of us are hoping that M....'s health will now take a turn for the better. In the email P.... mentioned the need to have an ACD.

I have helped more than one older person fill out the form for the ACD. We have had serious, very serious, discussions about their wishes and to whom they want to grant the powers within the ACD. I had the authority for my late friend E....  We had a very long discussion about her wishes. In the end it was simple though, "Please Cat - no extraordinary measures. I am tired of so much pain." 

Middle Cat and I have the ACD for the Senior Cat. His wishes are also simple, "No extraordinary measures." I hope it is simple but I know it will also be difficult.

It would be even harder if we didn't know what he wanted. It's a good idea to let people know, essential in fact.