Making plans when you’re healthy means there is less to think about if you get sick. It is never too soon to think about what you would like to happen if you become ill, or if your illness gets worse.
Planning ahead in this way will make the financial, legal and practical consequences of illness and death for families much easier to deal with.
If you think your health is likely to get worse, it is important that you talk to the people who are important to you about what is important to you, and your hopes and expectations for the future. In Scotland this is also referred to as 'future care planning', and you can find out more about this here:
There are certain practical steps that everyone should take when thinking about planning for the future. Everyone, no matter their age or health, should consider:
People who make arrangements to address these issues generally feel a real sense of satisfaction knowing they have done everything they can to assist their loved ones should illness or death strike.
Families, too, come through the adverse events much better when the party involved has taken the basic preparatory steps suggested above.
Read how our Development Manager, Robert Peacock got on planning his own future in our Reluctant Planner's Guide To Death and Dying
