Why doctors need your Advance Care Plan
Hospitals and verbal communication Hospitals are a place where verbal communication goes to die. This is unfortunately a common truth – our modern health care system is incredible and helps many people every day, but it is also a place where people’s wishes can be missed in and people can become caught in the system. […]
Advance Care Plans are paving the way for Digital Health Care
What is digital health care? The phrase ‘digital health care’ can sound scary. Especially when we’ve lived an entire life of having all our health care done in person. After all, the aim of medicine ought to be human-centred. But put them together to make human-centred digital healthcare and the future’s looking bright. Everyone […]
The Real Costs of Residential Aged Care Facilities
We asked Rhonda, a tax accountant, to tell us the facts about the costs of aged care facilities in Australia. Rhonda’s mother has dementia and lives in a Residential Aged Care Facility, so these figures are real. Look out for these sorts of costs when you are inquiring about a Residential Aged Care Facility for […]
I have dementia – is it too late for an Advance Care Plan?
An Advance Care Plan needs to be made when you still have the mental capacity to make decisions about your health care, and to understand the consequences of your decisions. If someone cannot understand their options, or the consequences of those options then it is too late to complete an Advance Care Plan. However, if […]
What your GP does with your Advance Care Plan
Advance Care Plans are not written by lawyers or doctors. They are written by ordinary people like you. So you do not need to use legal or medical jargon. However, doctors and other medical staff play an important role in putting your Advance Care Plan into practice. But how do they actually do this? Read […]
Dementia and decision-making capacity
The idea of capacity when it comes to decision making is complex. The word is not well understood, and it’s not as simple as having capacity or not having capacity. Health professionals may say someone “has” or “has not” capacity, meaning they can or cannot make decisions, yet this is often unhelpful as there are […]
You Can’t Predict the Future, But You Can Plan For It
Working as a doctor, I have seen first hand what happens when we don’t face up to our mortality. The sad truths about hospital that no one tells you One night when I was on duty a 95 year old gentleman came into our hospital with severe flu and pneumonia. He caught the flu […]
Are you a Doctor, Nurse, Advisor or Doula? Do You Need to Assist Your Clients With Advance Care Plans?
No matter what you call it No matter what you call it- an Advance Care Plan, Advance Care Directive, Management Plan, or a Living Will, all your clients aged 18 + will benefit from a regularly updated Advance Care Plan. But how can you fit all that into your busy day? Your role should not […]
Dementia, Swallowing, Memory Boxes and Capacity for Decision Making – lessons from Speech Pathologists.
People with Dementia often “lose their swallow.” This is not often known yet it causes aspiration pneumonia (things going down the wrong way) and is often the reason doctors give a “Nil By Mouth” order. There are however things you can do. Here Colleen Kerr talks about her wish for a Masterfood Challenge where the […]
