Have you had the chance to complete the Advanced Care Planning (ACP) Survey? If not, are you interested in providing your feedback in regard to advising clients about ACP?
The Advanced Care Planning Collaborative Research & Innovation Opportunities Program (ACP CRIO) is an Alberta Innovates Health Solutions funded team of researchers and stakeholders working together to implement widespread uptake of a formalized ACP framework across our healthcare system.
ACP involves discussing and documenting an individual’s wishes, preferences, and values in regard to future medical care before one becomes incapable of giving consent to or denying health care.
Help this team of Alberta researchers; complete the Advanced Care Planning survey!
Read what Maureen L. Douglas, Senior Project Coordinator, Advance Care Planning CRIO Program has to say about ACP and the ACP survey. In addition, find out what wills and estates lawyer Shelley E. Waite says about the role of lawyers in ACP and the importance of collaboration in the ACP process.
Thank you to the many Alberta lawyers who have already completed this survey. We appreciate your feedback about factors that support or hinder lawyers in working with clients on Advance Care Planning (ACP), and the need for resources.
Over the last 2 years, the ACP CRIO research program has been collaborating with lawyers, physicians, patient advisors, Canadian Bar Association (Alberta Branch), Legal Education Society of Alberta, the Office of the Public Guardian and Public Trustee, Alberta Health Services, and other stakeholders to learn more about ACP in lawyers’ practices.
Why Participate
Shelley E. Waite, partner with McLeod Law – practicing in wills, estates, and succession planning – has been an active member of the group. She explains the role of lawyers and value of collaboration on ACP.
Working individually, neither doctors nor lawyers can provide as comprehensive a plan as when they work collaboratively. It is imperative for Albertans to consider the importance of ensuring that there is someone who has the legal authority to step into the role of decision maker. Our role as lawyers is to discuss the importance of completing their Advanced Care Plan through the completion of a Personal Directive. This is just one step in ensuring that a comprehensive Advanced Care Plan is complete. I advocate that my clients take their Personal Directive to their doctor and continue the conversation on their goals of care with their health care team. By working collaboratively doctor and lawyer can be part of the individual’s comprehensive and tailored Advance Care Plan.”
ACP Survey Details
Lawyers are uniquely positioned to assist clients with Advance Care Planning. A Saskatchewan survey found that nearly half of people who had a written care plan had sought help from a lawyer to prepare the document, while only five percent had consulted a doctor.i
The research group is asking Alberta lawyers in a wide variety of practice settings to complete the survey. (This survey will take approximately 10 – 15 minutes.)
Questions include:
- What prompts a client’s desire to engage in Advance Care Planning?
- What topics do your clients want to cover in their ACP?
- What resources would help you help your clients?
- Do you have concerns that an Advance Care Plan will not be used in practice?
The ACP survey closes on June 15, 2016.
Contact Information
For more information about ACP, the ACP survey, or the ACP CRIO Research Program, contact:
- Maureen Douglas, Senior Study Coordinator, Department of Oncology, University of Alberta 780.248.5690 or
- Nola Ries, Study Lead, Health Law Institute, University of Alberta
iGoodridge D, Quinlan E, Venne R, Hunter P, Surtees D. Planning for Serious Illness by the General Public: A Population-Based Survey. ISRN Family Medicine. 2013;483673. doi:10.5402/2013/483673.
If you want LESA’s help to raise awareness about an upcoming event relevant to the Alberta legal community, contact Andrea Maltais, Communications Coordinator.
780.969.0555 or [email protected]
