Future care planning
If you think your health is likely to get worse, it can help to talk and make plans for what is important to you, and your hopes and expectations for the future.
You can then record and share these discussions with the people involved in your care, and update them if there’s anything you want to change.
By having these conversations and agreeing to have them written down you are giving guidance, confidence and strength to those closest to you in case you become ill and they have to speak or make decisions for you.
Click the picture below to watch a short film from BBC Ideas exploring the question ‘Should everyone have an end of life plan?‘
Future Care Planning in NHS Scotland
Within NHS Scotland, planning for the future is usually called Future Care Planning and it involves talking about what you want or don’t want to happen in the future regarding any care you might need.
To do this properly, you’ll need to talk to your family, friends, any health or social care professionals you see regularly (eg doctor or nurse), and possibly a lawyer.
Check out the NHS Scotland official information on Future Care Planning here: NHS Inform Information on Future Care Planning
Issues to consider
There are many aspects of Future Care Planning that you can start yourself, while other aspects might be brought up by a doctor or nurse if you become ill, or if your illness gets worse. Depending on your circumstances and wishes, Future Care Planning might include:
- Ensuring that your Key Information Summary has been completed by your GP
- Granting a Power of Attorney/Welfare Attorney
- Talking to your healthcare professional and those important to you about:
- your concerns
- the values that are important to you / your personal goals for care
- your understanding of your illness and the expectations you have for how it might progress over time
- any preferences you have for the type of care or treatment that might be beneficial in the future, and whether these preferences are likely to be available
- Thinking about organ donation
- Learning about Do Not Attempt Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation documentation, and thinking about whether this is something you might wish to make use of under some future circumstances.
- Thinking about whether you have views about medical treatments that you might not want to have under certain circumstances, and setting these views down within an Advance Directive
- Writing down your preferences so that others know what they are if you become unwell
Your thoughts and preferences may change over time, and if so, it is important to let people know.
Further resources
Check out the NHS Scotland official information on Future Care Planning here: NHS Inform Information on Future Care Planning
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has some resources on planning your care here: NHS GGC Information on Planning your care
The Age UK LifeBook is a free booklet where you can write important and useful information about your life, from who insures your car to where you put the TV licence: LifeBook
A short film from
Photo by Karolina Kaboompics
