Advance Care Planning General Practice Participation (ACP-GPP)

EMPHN is seeking to recruit up to 5 general practices, to participate in their program Advance Care Planning for General Practices, aimed at patients above the age of 65 and/or patients with complex and chronic conditions living within the community with, who could benefit from Advance Care Planning (ACP).

ACP ensures that a person’s preferences, beliefs and values about health care are known and respected if they are too unwell to speak for themselves. It is known that families of people who have done advance care planning have less anxiety and stress when asked to make important healthcare decisions for other people. If someone became unwell or had a sudden emergency they may no longer be able to make their own decisions about health and personal care. This can happen to people of all ages, and especially towards end of life. Writing an Advance Care Directive lets a person say what they would want, if they are ever unable to communicate for themselves. Compared to other states, Victorians are less likely to have an Advance Care Directive. Currently only 6% of people attending general practices has an advance care directive in their health record. Overall, 25% of Australian population has uploaded their Advance Care Directive on MyHealth Record.

Selected practices would be incentivised to undergo training in ACP and Advanced Care Directives, provided information on how to navigate HealthPathways Melbourne for ACP.