Marie Morrison of Ormiston has seen a few things in her 86 years.
During Queensland Seniors Month, she is very keen to encourage others to make decisions and talk to their families and health care team about advance care planning (ACP).
ACP is the process of discussing and documenting your future health care wishes and choices, in case there is a time when you cannot communicate these for yourself.
Metro South Health (MSH) ACP Service Clinical Nurse Consultant, Alana Cresswell recently visited Marie to talk to her about her experiences.
“There have been ups and downs with the world, but I’ve been lucky enough to have had quality of life all my life. That’s what is important to me”, says Marie.
“I had wonderful parents. They were born in 1914 and had no formal education but, as their first daughter, they ensured I was given an education; I am who I am because of them. But we didn’t know what they wanted at the end of their lives. They never talked about it, and we didn’t want to nag them. When they were passing away, there was so much disagreement between my siblings about what to do. It made the grieving process so much harder.”
Alana says that the point of having ACP conversations is about understanding the person, what is important to them and communicating that with family and the healthcare team.
“What Marie describes happening with her mum and dad was not a good situation. Trying to work out what her parents wanted at end of life made everything more stressful”, says Alana.
Marie learned from her parents’ situation and made sure that her family knew what she and her husband Gavin wanted for their future health care.
“Gavin passed away in 2020. We all knew what he wanted. Our children knew our plans. We told them ‘no debate, nothing’ that’s the way it is. That’s what we wanted. I think they were glad that it wasn’t left up to them to be honest.
“We sat at the kitchen table and made those decisions together, when we were well and fit. As we filled in the advance care planning forms, we could bounce off one another, and of course, we bounced off our doctor as well. I was very relaxed about the whole process; right through to when I didn’t have him anymore.”
Alana says that families tell her that they are relieved when they know what a person wants. “They can make the decisions that they know the person would want if they can’t speak for themselves. That is a very big burden that they don’t have to bear.”
To support people to document their wishes, the MSH ACP Service team offers free monthly advance care planning information sessions held at local Community Health Centres. These one-on-one sessions are designed to answer your questions and make planning simple. Convenient telehealth appointments are also now available at a time that suits you.
Book an appointment with our experienced nurses by calling 1300 227 674 or order a free ACP information pack.
As for Marie, she has her ACP documents in place. “I’d say to people, plan, talk to your family about it, talk to your doctor. This takes so much responsibility out of their hands. Be at peace with your life, go with the flow.”
We think that’s wonderful advice. Thank you, Marie.
For more information about advance care planning in Queensland visit My Care My Choices website.