Dying Matters Awareness Week
Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare: Planning for End of Life
An LPA for Health and Welfare can be an invaluable tool if you are unable to tell the medical professionals what treatment you want, or don’t want, at the end of your life, as your Attorneys can give those instructions on your behalf if you give them permission to do so.
You are able to give instructions and guidance to your chosen Attorneys both in the document and verbally during your lifetime. Sometimes it can be difficult to have conversations with those close to us about our death. We might find it difficult to talk about or it might be your family doesn’t want to discuss it for fear of upset either to them or you.
Although an ongoing discussion with your Attorneys will always be the best way to proceed, as your thoughts and wishes may change depending on the state of your health or a particular diagnosis, if you can’t have those conversations, including guidance or instructions in your LPA might be the best way to help them help you.
You could include a clause in your LPA directing your Attorneys to speak to a specified person with whom you have been able to discuss your situation and who can give them advice and information about your wishes.
You might want to include some guidance about where you would want to spend your final days - would you prefer to remain at home, in hospital or perhaps move to a hospice to be cared for?
If you have a particular condition, if you are aware of what might happen and the treatment that could be offered as your approach the end of your life, you can put express directions in your LPA telling your Attorneys which treatment you would or would not want to receive.
If you have put in place an advance decision (instructions about your preferred medical care) or a living will, you should make sure that your Attorneys are aware of this so that they can act in accordance with it. By referring to it in the LPA, you can ensure that they are aware of its existence.
If you wish treatment to be limited to palliative care only, you can give specific instructions to your Attorneys via the LPA.
If you have particular or strong cultural, religious or spiritual beliefs that you wish to be included in any decision making about end of life treatment, this information could be included in your LPA too.
Although it is not something people like to think about, planning ahead can enable you to manage your death to ensure that your wishes are respected at a time when you might not be able to say what you want.
