Start the Conversation ‘ACP’

Anticipatory Care Planning ‘ACP’ – Start the Conversation

Anticipatory Care Planning (ACP) has two unique threads. There is the Clinical ACP and the Patient and Family ACP.

Clinical ACP’s are motivated by deterioration, when despite optimal treatment delivery; the patient continues to deteriorate, requiring a new plan of care, considerate of preferences, wishes, reality and hope.  The specific skills required to ‘start the conversation’ include empathy, active listening, sensitivity and honesty… the essential ingredients of a true therapeutic relationship.  And, then there is the Patient and Family ACP which is motivated by the person and the anticipation of what’s ahead, important events, the subtleties of how one desires  to be cared for… wishes, reality and hope.  Both contain the same sentiment and crucial information about the same person living with the same illness, but from different perspectives.

This one-day course will examine current thinking and a review of literature specific to the benefits and barriers of ACP and will provide opportunity for those in attendance to increase their confidence through a platform of shared knowledge, practice and reflection.

The course will be facilitated by the Hospice Palliative Care Specialist Staff

It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see
Sir Winston Churchill