{"id":292667,"date":"2016-01-04T17:07:58","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T22:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/2016\/01\/why-canadians-need-to-be-having-end-of-life-conversations\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T15:24:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T19:24:23","slug":"why-canadians-need-to-be-having-end-of-life-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2016\/01\/why-canadians-need-to-be-having-end-of-life-conversations\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Canadians need to be having end-of-life conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadians likely had many important conversations with their loved ones over the holidays, but probably most didn\u2019t talk about what should happen in the event they could no longer speak or make medical decisions for themselves.\u00a0 It\u2019s what\u2019s called Advance Care Planning, and while experts say most of us should do this well before our senior years, too few Canadians bother until it is too late.<\/p>\n

One study<\/a> found that a surprising 70 percent of individuals nearing end of life were not able to make decisions for themselves.\u00a0 Yet the results of a recent opinion poll<\/a> found that only 52 percent of Canadian adults had discussed Advance Care Planning with family or friends, and only a mere 10 percent had discussed the topic with their health care provider.<\/p>\n

Why are these conversations so important?\u00a0 Studies<\/a> have shown<\/a> that people who have end-of-life conversations with their doctors and family members are much more likely to be satisfied with their care, and their caregivers are less likely to suffer from depression, or left wondering if they made the right decisions for their loved ones.<\/p>\n

Advance Care Planning<\/a> involves reflection and communication on your values and wishes, and lets the people around you know what kind of health and personal care you would want if you were not able to make those decisions.\u00a0 It means having honest discussions with family and friends, especially your selected \u201csubstitute decision maker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your substitute decision maker is the person(s) who will make medical decisions for you if you are unable to do so; make sure it is someone you trust to make health care decisions that reflect your wishes.\u00a0 So how do you choose the right person?<\/p>\n

Your substitute decision maker should be someone who could communicate effectively and clearly with your health team.\u00a0 Ask yourself, could they make difficult decisions during stressful times?\u00a0 Are they willing and available to speak for me if I cannot speak for myself?\u00a0 Legal requirements<\/a> regarding the appointment of a substitute decision maker vary across the country and some provinces require you to complete certain legal forms.<\/p>\n

When advance care planning has been done, the families of people who died in hospital were more than twice as likely to say that their loved one\u2019s wishes were known and followed, and the family members were significantly less likely to suffer from depression several months later<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ideally advance care planning happens before a person ends up in hospital.\u00a0 Why? Because research has found<\/a> that conversations with doctors about the care goals and wishes of seriously ill patients near end of life typically don\u2019t happen in Canadian hospitals.<\/p>\n

Along with my colleagues, I\u2019m undertaking new research to try and get more Canadians talking to their healthcare team and their families about advance care planning, especially with their primary care providers.\u00a0 The Improving Advance Care Planning in General Practice (i-GAP) research project<\/a>, funded by governments and University partners, is now taking place in family doctor offices across Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.<\/p>\n

Initial research surveys and interviews with patients and healthcare professionals already indicate why it is so difficult to have end-of-life conversations.<\/p>\n

Around 60 percent<\/a> of Canadians want their healthcare provider to give them information on advance care planning, but only 26 percent of primary care physicians feel comfortable doing so, according to previous studies.\u00a0 Most doctors it turns out \u2013 around 67 percent — say they need more resources and information to have these discussions with their patients.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, the i-GAP study is evaluating and sharing several tools to help individuals, families and health care professionals have the important discussions. One tool being evaluated is an online workbook \u2013 myspeakupplan.ca<\/a> \u2013 that features resources, videos and conversation starters to help families think about and talk about their wishes. People can record their values, objectives and name their substitute decision maker \u2013 then download and share with others. \u00a0Other tools will also be targeted at primary care providers.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s time we all made time<\/a> for this conversation?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canadians likely had many important conversations with their loved ones over the holidays, but probably most didn\u2019t talk about what should happen in the event they could no longer speak or make medical decisions for themselves.\u00a0 It\u2019s what\u2019s called Advance Care Planning, and while experts say most of us should do this well before our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":913,"featured_media":292665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[],"class_list":["post-292667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Canadians need to be having end-of-life conversations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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