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Advance Care Planning

Choose

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Choose someone to make decisions and speak on your behalf.

An unexpected or sudden medical event can leave you unable to say what your healthcare wishes are. Other medical conditions may slowly take away your ability to communicate or make decisions about your healthcare.

This is why another important step in the advance care planning process is to choose and legally appoint someone who can speak for you in case you’re not able to. This person would be your agent.

An agent can be anyone you choose, such as a family member or close friend. It’s very important to talk about your values and wishes with the person you’re thinking about asking to be your agent.

Below are some of the things you may want to think about:

  • Do I trust this person to make healthcare decisions based on my values and wishes with my healthcare team?
  • Can this person communicate clearly?
  • Can this person make a difficult decision in a stressful situation?
  • Is this person willing and available to speak for me if I couldn’t make healthcare decisions for myself?

Current as of: April 2, 2018

Author: Palliative and End of Life Care Team, Alberta Health Services