It's important to have this conversation early on in the person's dementia journey, where they
have ability to comprehend what's being said, and to understand what they're documenting. It's often
tied in with when we discuss about getting their affairs in order, their enduring power
of attorney, and their finances through making a will. And it's a nice segue to get in there
as it's something like completing an advanced care plan is really important documentation
because it advises both the family and health professionals what their wishes are for the future.
I can't remember what I did now, yeah. Yes, I can't really remember how much we got done
on the course, it would have been quite incomplete I think and Colin then on his own
did nearly all of this in pencil, and then we went through it together because there were some
inconsistencies and errors so we went through really
um, preserving um, the intent but trying to make it less, we didn't want ambiguities in it.
Friends, family, and the natural world of friends and family research particularly on plants.
If my time were limited, my priorities would be completing a book about Nepal,
spending more time with my closest friends.
The first choice was I like to know one extreme only the basics but Colin has tick the other end,
all the details about my condition and my treatment.
And, then as doctors treat me, I would like my doctors to do what they think best.
And so you have ticked that end of the spectrum rather than wanting to have a say in every decision.
If I had an illness that was going to shorten my life,
I prefer to know my doctor's best estimate for how long I have to live.
How involved do you want your loved ones to be, I want them to do
exactly as I've said even if it makes them uncomfortable. And when it comes to sharing
information I'm comfortable with my loved ones knowing everything about my health.
It's helpful for family because we're not worried about what to do, we can sort of the intent, Colin's
intent here is very clear I think. I do not want to be kept alive on any life support system
such as in hospital. same as what mum had [Colin]. Yeah, this is very similar Colin.
I do not want any of my organs removed from my body and wish to be cremated, in particular I do not want any religious service at all.
In order to complete the ACP, we advise that people again just
take the time with it but often it's described as having a conversation around the dining room table,
talking about how you're feeling um, and so you're sharing that with other members.
In completing my own I started writing that on my own and I found it very
quite difficult, quite emotive. My family live in the UK, so I got to a point where I
couldn't proceed any further because I wanted to talk to them about it. So, this is again, it's
that thinking what I would like writing it down, and then sharing it with other people.
So it just eases that time, a very emotional time for the individual when
they're making decisions on behalf of somebody else knowing that they've had that conversation.