I hate prunes and don’t feed me custard!

This was an opening line for me when my work on my personal Advanced Care Plan started. It is so often easier to identify the stuff we don’t want than the stuff we do. Years ago, I worked in tourism across the Pacific Islands and I was often asked “ Which is the best island to visit?” my response was always, it is about your preferences – start with what you don’t want and work back. I don’t understand it but as humans that is always easy to do.

Back to Advanced Care Planning, this is a confronting subject “Who would make decisions for you if you could not?” and “What decisions would they make for you?” It is important to give this thought, because, you are still alive and though you may not be able to communicate you will more than likely be present ( that is for another blog). There are two areas of focus – values decisions (your wants and don’t want) and medical decisions (have a conversation with your doctor).

Thinking about values, consider your senses:

Vision – what can you see, in the room outside a window? I need to see the big sky and nature.

Touch – do you need touch, or do you find touch annoys you? Is massage or having your hair brushed a joy?

Smell – is fresh air important, fresh flowers, candles or incense? What types of scents do you enjoy?

Hearing – “I can hear you” – don’t talk about /or over me, leave the room if I am not included. Play my music, read to me.

And here is where we started –

Taste – “I hate prunes and don’t feed me custard!” There may be foods you love or hate, let them know.

Don’t put it off, we hope that we never need to activate our Advanced Care Plans, but do yourself (and those who love you) favour - do it now!