Health PEI is the provincial agency responsible for health services on PEI. In 2012, the Advance Care Planning (ACP) Steering Committee was formed by Health PEI to lead the ACP process for the province. Prior to the formation of the committee, there was no consistent or standardized process for ACP in the facilities and programs operated by Health PEI.
The ACP Steering Committee includes representation from a number of health groups and community organizations. The primary role of the committee is to raise awareness of the importance of ACP to all Islanders and health care providers through education, public engagement and partnerships. The work of this committee also focuses on ensuring processes are in place for health care providers to engage and support patients/clients/residents in the ACP process. This is particularly important given PEI’s aging population and the implications on the health care system.
Health PEI supports Person-Centered Care and strives to provide care to you that is clinically indicated and appropriate and seeks to understand your values and wishes regarding care provisions. Having a voice in decisions about your health care plan and treatment is important. There may come a time in your life when, due to illness or injury, you are incapable of expressing your treatment wishes to health care providers. By planning in advance, you can be sure that your family, friends and/or health care providers know your wishes, values and beliefs, and can ensure your wishes are followed.
In PEI, we have legislation to guide the ACP process known as the Consent to Treatment and Health Care Directives Act. The legislation allows capable adults to put plans into place that outlines the health care treatments they consent to or refuse based on their beliefs, values and wishes. It also addresses the making of a Health Care Directive, a document made in accordance with the Act in which you set out decisions or wishes or instructions respecting your treatment, appoint a Proxy or a person or persons to make decisions on your behalf, or both. If you have no decision/plan in place, PEI’s consent to treatment legislation gives health care providers specific direction regarding who they must choose to make decisions on your behalf.
The ACP Steering Committee, in partnership with Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA), has developed this ACP interactive workbook as a tool to help you develop an advance care plan that outlines your wishes about health care decisions in the event you are unable to do so. It will help you to consider what is important to you, help you document your beliefs and wishes, make a Health Care Directive and/or appoint a Proxy if you wish, and help you make the Advance Care Plan that best suits you.
It is important to note that this workbook is NOT your Health Care Directive, a document made in accordance with the Act. It is just a tool to help you create a Health Care Directive. We hope that by filling out this workbook it will lead you to make an official Health Care Directive by completing the Health Care Directive form and appointing a Proxy, to ensure your wishes are known and are able to be respected. Your official Health Care Directive can be completed without the assistance of a lawyer or notary public, which will be legally valid if completed properly.
It is the goal of the ACP Steering Committee that our ACP interactive workbook engages you and more Islanders to start the conversation about your end of life care. Speak Up and start your conversation today!
– Health PEI ACP Steering Committee
Visit Health PEI for more information: www.healthpei.ca/advancecareplanning