I have been asked about the merit of doing an Advance Directive or Advance Care Planning. This seems an excellent way of deciding the extent of medical intervention you want should you become sick and unable to communicate. This is not euthanasia as there is no intervention with the intent to kill but rather the decision to nolonger receive medical treatment. This is consistent with a Christian understanding of life and death.

 I have been directed to two excellent resources on Advance Care Planning by my good friend and Medical Advisor Dr Philip Thomson.

 The first resource, Enduring Guardianship defines an enduring guardian as

a person you appoint to make your personal or medical decisions if you should lose the ability to decide for yourself because of a disability.

The infosheet goes on to explain further what an enduring guardian is, what decisions they can make, conditions you can set, who you can appoint, and other important factors to consider before taking this step.

The Enduring Guardianship infosheet can be downloaded here.

The second resource, Advance Care Plan says that

Advance care planning is about the promotion of autonomy and dignity and not about euthanasia or suicide.

The information sheet defines further Advance Care Planning, Enduring Guardianship, documenting your wishes, completing a plan and how to change or revoke your plan.

 The Advance Care Plan information sheet can be downloaded here.

Please also note the comments about planning for dying between John Tongue and myself in the comments at the end of Euthanizing Fear?.