Hello, thanks for joining us.

April 16th is National Advance Care Planning Day, and this year's national theme is Advance Care Planning: An Essential Conversation for Everyone.

Given this, we thought it would be a perfect time to have our own essential conversation on breaking down the top 10 barriers to writing a personal directive.

I'm Jennifer Zelmer and I'm here with my colleague Alexandra Kushliak.

[Alexandra:] Welcome.

[Jennifer:] We work for Alberta Health Services in the Calgary Zone as educators for advance care planning.

And I just want to start by saying that advance care planning is important for all adult Albertans.

In a nutshell, advance care planning is about appointing someone that you trust to be prepared to step in and make healthcare and personal decisions for you if you ever became too ill or injured to speak for yourself.

It's about having those essential conversations with that person about your wishes and writing all of this down in a document called a personal directive.

Now, as educators, Alexandra and I have talked to thousands of people and we've heard a lot of the reasons why so many of us have not written a personal directive.

So today, we're going to break down the top 10 barriers in 10 minutes to convince you that writing your personal directive and having these conversations is not as hard as you might be thinking it is, and it gives you such peace of mind.

So, Alexandra, why don't you get us started and break down the first barrier?

[Alexandra:] Thanks, Jennifer.

Barrier number 1 is that people often think: “oh, I have a will, I don't need a personal directive."

But in the province of Alberta we actually need 3 legal documents.

We need a will, an enduring power of attorney, and a personal directive.

And they all do different things.

A will is for your estate and your money, and only gets looked at after you die.

An enduring power of attorney is to appoint someone to manage your money and real estate while you're alive but unable to make financial decisions.

A personal directive is the only document that allows you to appoint someone, called your agent, to make personal and health care decisions if you become unable.

It also gives you the opportunity to write down your healthcare and personal wishes.

[Jennifer:] Yeah, Alexandra, this is really important for people to know because a lot of us do think that all we need is a will.

And this actually links into the second barrier on our list, which is when people think: “I don't need a personal directive, I'm too young, I'm not sick, I'm not dying, so I don't need one."

Now I hear this a lot.

And what I tell people is that a personal directive is for everyone over the age of 18. Healthy people, too.

Something could happen suddenly to any of us, a car accident, for example.

And writing your personal directive is how you can still have some control over your health and personal decisions, even if you cannot speak for yourself.

[Alexandra:] Yes, and I'll often say it's never too early, but it can be too late to write your own personal directive, so don't wait for that health crisis.

Barrier number 3 is that people think they need to hire a lawyer to get a personal directive written, and that will cost a lot of money.

But this isn't true.

You can absolutely hire a lawyer to get your personal directive done, and they do a really great job.

But if you don't have a personal directive, you also have the option to write it yourself for free.

In Alberta, as long as your personal directive is in writing, signed, dated, and witnessed, it is legal and valid.

It does not need to be written by a lawyer.

But if you've been to a lawyer in the past to write your will, make sure you check your documents as you may already have a personal directive.

[Jennifer:] Yeah, and I'm going to jump in here with barrier number 4 Alexandra, which is that people also think that they need a lawyer or a notary to witness their personal directive.

And again, this is not true either.

Almost any adult can witness your personal directive, as long as they are at least 18 years old and have capacity.

So as examples, a neighbour, a friend, or a work colleague would all be fine to witness your personal directive for you.

But I should mention that there are a few people who cannot witness.

Anyone you have listed as a substitute decision maker or agent in your personal directive cannot witness it for you.

Neither can that agent's spouse or partner.

And if you have a spouse or a partner, they cannot witness your personal directive either.

But other than those few people, just about any other adult could be your witness so don't let that be a barrier to writing your personal directive.

So Alexandra, back to you, what's next?

[Alexandra:] So Jennifer, we're at the halfway point already.

Barrier number 5 is thinking that if I can't speak for myself, my family, my loved ones, they'll just know what to do and I don't need to write it down.

But if you write your healthcare wishes down, they have to be followed if they apply to the situation.

This provides peace of mind for you.

It's also important to write wishes and values to help your agent or substitute decision maker.

Reading your words will help them to feel more confident in the decisions they are making on your behalf.

It was really helpful to my family that my mother had a personal directive.

We were able to follow it and know what was most important to her.

Having that essential conversation with your family and friends is so important.

[Jennifer:] Yes, I hear this often as well, and I'll say to people that writing a personal directive is a gift.

It's a gift for yourself, but it's even more of a gift for your family and your decision makers.

In times of crisis or illness, it is very stressful to make decisions for someone else, so any wishes you can write down can be a huge help.

And don't forget having those conversations with your agent and the people close to you goes hand in hand with writing it down in your personal directive.

So you're so right, Alexandra, these conversations are essential.

And along the same lines is barrier number 6, which is that people say they don't have a personal directive because they don't know what to write as their healthcare wishes.

And not knowing what to write can make completing a personal directive seem intimidating and it can prevent people from getting started.

But writing down healthcare wishes is not about having a crystal ball and being able to predict every medical situation you may ever be in.

None of us can do that.

But another way to approach it is to write down quality of life statements.

Things like: what is important to you, what gives your life meaning?

Is it being able to communicate with your loved ones?

Is it being able to walk?

Is it being able to eat?

To think clearly?

You might also want to include statements about what having a poor quality of life would look like for you.

Everyone is different, and knowing those sorts of things can be really helpful for someone who is making decisions for you.

And I also want to mention that a person's personal directive is going to look different at different stages in their life.

I'm generally healthy, so my personal directive right now is very broad.

It only includes quality of life statements like those that I just talked about.

But if I was diagnosed with an illness, I would write a new personal directive and it would be more specific based on decisions related to my illness.

And my conversations with my loved ones would change as well.

[Alexandra:] Right, Jennifer.

And you know that Alberta Health Services has a great Conversations Matter guide book.

It has helpful prompts to walk people through some common health situations and quality of life questions that you may want to think about and write in your own personal directive.

I'm now looking at the 7th barrier on the list, which is that people may not know where to get that personal directive form.

This is an easy one to overcome because in Alberta there is no specific form that you have to use.

As long as a personal directive is in writing, signed, dated, and witnessed, it is legal and binding.

It can look different: handwritten on a blank piece of paper, typed out by a lawyer's office, or on a fill-in template.

In fact, Alberto's Office of the Public Guardian Trustee website has a nice, easy-to-use personal directive template with instructions, and you can easily fill it in.

Both their website and their personal directory template instruction sheet have information about some of the more detailed things you need to know about when writing your own personal directive, such as revoking previous personal directives, how do you name more than one agent properly, who witnesses it?

Alberta Health Services Conversations Matter website has a direct link to this information and much more.

[Jennifer:] Yes, the Conversations Matter website is a great resource.

You can access it at www.conversationsmatter.ca and that direct link that it has to the personal directive section of the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustees website is really helpful because they truly are the experts when it comes to the details and legalities of writing a personal directive.

It really is worth checking out.

So moving on to barrier number 8: when I ask people if they have a personal directive, they sometimes say no, I don't want someone else making my decisions for me right now, I can do it myself, I'm fine.

And a lot of people think as soon as you write your personal directive and name an agent, that that person instantly gets control over your healthcare and your personal decisions, but that is not true.

Your personal directive lays dormant until you need it.

If something happens and you were to become unable to make your own decisions, your personal directive would then be activated by a specific process and paperwork completed in part by a physician.

So rest assured, if you wrote your personal directive today, you would still be in control of all of your medical and personal decisions.

So please don't let that be a barrier for you.

All right, Alexandra, what is barrier number 9?

[Alexandra:] Well, Jennifer, sometimes what stops people from writing their personal directive is they don't know who to pick as an agent or they think it has to be a specific person.

So that's the next barrier that I want to talk about.

Your agent can be anyone you want, as long as they are at least age 18 and have capacity.

But some things to think about when choosing your agent: you want someone you trust, someone you have talked to about your wishes, and someone who can make decisions in a stressful situation.

Your agent does not have to be your spouse, partner, or even a blood relative.

And they do not have to live in the same city, province, or country.

Although it's ideal for them to be close, as long as we can contact them by phone, it's more important to choose someone you trust rather than picking your agent based on where they live.

It's also important that you let your agent know that you've picked them and have a conversation with them about your healthcare wishes and values.

So many of the restrictions people think limit their choice of agents are simply not true and should not be a barrier to writing their personal directive.

This brings us to the last barrier on your list.

Jennifer, what is it?

[Jennifer:] OK, our final barrier to breakdown, barrier number 10, is that people may think I don't need a personal directive because the person I would want making my decisions will just automatically be able to.

But the bottom line is that if you end up losing the ability to make your own healthcare or personal decisions, the only way to guarantee that the person you want to make your decisions will be given the legal authority to do so is by writing their name in your personal directive.

If you don't, someone will be picked for you, and it might not be who you would want.

So the best advice I can give is to not let this assumption stop you from writing your personal directive and naming an agent.

It's really important so that you decide who your agent is, and you decide what healthcare wishes are to be followed.

And don't forget that equally important as writing your personal directive is having those essential advance care planning conversations with your agent and the people close to you.

So, Alexandra, that was the last barrier that we wanted to break down on our top 10 barriers to writing a personal directive list.

We did it! 10 barriers in 10 minutes.

It was actually pretty easy.

[Alexandra:] Well, hopefully we've convinced you that writing a personal directive is really easier than you probably thought, and many of the barriers people think exist aren't true.

There are great resources on Alberta Health Services Conversations Matter website, including access to the guide book and the link to the Alberta Office of the Public Guardian Trustee.

It's really essential that we have these advance care planning conversations with our family, friends, and loved ones, and write our own personal directive.

It is truly a gift for yourself and for your loved ones.

[Jennifer:] I couldn't agree more, Alexandra.

So thank you so much for everyone who took the time to join us today as we broke down the top 10 barriers that may be stopping you from writing your personal directive.

Bye.

[Alexandra:] Bye. ​