Making Advance Decisions: Planning Your Healthcare

What are advance decisions?

There are three main ways to plan your healthcare in advance:

Advance Statements are documents where you write down your values, preferences and wishes for future care. Think of them as instructions to help doctors and family members understand what’s important to you.

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) let you choose someone you trust completely to make healthcare decisions for you if you become unable to make them yourself. This person becomes your voice when you cannot speak. Office of the Public Guardian – Lasting Powers of Attorney

Advance Decisions to Refuse Treatment (ADRT) are legally binding documents that allow you to refuse specific medical treatments in specific circumstances. These must be very carefully written and witnessed.

Where do you begin?

Like making a will or planning your funeral, the hardest part is often just starting the conversation. The Anscombe Bioethics Centre has created an interactive toolkit specifically designed to help you work through these decisions step by step. Their resources break down complex legal concepts and provide very helpful guidance.

You might begin by talking to:

• Your GP or hospital consultant about your condition and treatment options
• Family members about your values and what matters most to you
• A solicitor if you need help with Lasting Powers of Attorney

As the Bishop for Healthcare, Bishop Paul Mason shares, “The law in England and Wales on advance decisions, advance statements and Lasting Powers of Attorney is not always easy to grasp, but these resources help break down the different elements and provide guidance on how to use them in the light of Catholic moral values.” https://www.bioethics.org.uk/advance-decisions/

Using the Anscombe resources

The Anscombe Bioethics Centre has created high-quality and user-friendly resources to help you plan your care at the end of life.  Their practical resources include:

• Interactive Toolkit where you can explore and record different options for planning treatment decisions in advance
• Q&A guide covering advance statements, LPAs, and advance decisions
• Advance Statement templates with general instructions
• Educational videos covering different aspects of the toolkit

These resources help navigate advance care planning while maintaining respect for the dignity of all human life. Catholic teaching recognises that there is no obligation to use extraordinary or disproportionate means to preserve life, while still valuing life as a gift.

This might mean choosing comfort care over aggressive treatment, or deciding that certain interventions would be disproportionate to any benefit they might bring.

Video resources

The Anscombe Centre has created educational videos explaining different aspects of advance care planning from a Catholic perspective, helping you understand both the legal requirements and ethical considerations.

Remember

Making advance decisions isn’t about losing hope or giving up. It’s about ensuring that whatever happens, your care reflects your values and your faith. As Sister Anne Donockley said before her death, planning wasn’t “with a view to dying; it was about engaging with death for me. It was a way of encountering death with God and being comfortable with it.”

Planning ahead can help remove fear and anxiety, allowing you to focus on what truly matters as you face the end of life. For more guidance on this topic, see our page on Advanced Care Planning and Planning a Good Death.