What is an Advance Care Directive?

You fill out a form when you are competent so that should the time come when you are not competent you have a set of instructions about how you would wish to be treated. Advance directives can deal with health care, where you want to live, organ donation, cremation - a whole variety of things.

You can also have a proxy directive called a power of attorney. You nominate somebody else.to make decisions on your behalf when the time comes.

You don`t have to fill them out.

There may be advantages for some people in filling out advance directives and powers of attorney but there are also disadvantages.

If you are assessed as being incompetent you are not allowed to change your mind, although still having mind enough to know what you want. Your  power of attorney can stick you in a care home against your will and run away with your finances. Your house can be taken over by the local authority to pay for you being in the care home where you do not want to be. So there are lots of advantages for other people, but none for you.

Professor Molloy paints a rosy picture but it is only half of the story.

Then it is often the case that doctors and other professionals will make decisions on your behalf without informing your relatives and these days they tend not to want to prolong your life. See the post below.