LibGuides: COPD Care and Education NS: Musquodoboit Valley-Eastern Shore: Advance Care Planning and Personal Directives

Advance Care Planning

What is Advance Care Planning?
- Advance care planning, or personal care planning, is the process of reflecting on what is important to you to help you plan for your future medical and personal care. It is easier to plan in advance and make decisions about your preferences when you are at home and feeling well, rather than in the middle of a medical crisis.
How can Advance Care Planning (ACP) help? ACP can help you:
- learn about the choices that are available for your health care.
- keep your independence and make your own decisions.
- get your affairs in order and save money.
- give your family the gift of peace of mind and save them stress.
Is ACP right for me? ACP may be right for you if you:
- have strong feelings about what a good quality of life is.
- want to learn about the risks and benefits of life-saving and life-prolonging (making longer) COPD treatments.
- have strong opinions about what will happen to you in a health crisis.
What services does The INSPIRED COPD Outreach Program™ offer?
- Meet with an advance care planning specialist. They can give you information and help you explore your thoughts and preferences.
- Choose a health care Delegate to make decisions for you if you cannot talk for yourself.
- Write a Personal Directive (PD) and make it legal.
- Learn where to keep copies of your PD, so it is there when you need it.
What are the benefits?
- Think about what is most important to you in life and how to make sure your wishes are followed.
- Create a free, legal PD
- Create a clear, personal communication plan for your loved one(s) and health care providers.
- Give your loved one(s) a clear understanding of your choices and how they can support you if you cannot talk for yourself.

Advance Care Planning Resources

Let's talk about Personal Directives
This video introduces the Personal Directive - a basic tool for Advance Care Planning at Nova Scotia Health.
Nova Scotia Health (2015)
Advance Care Planning - Making Your Personal and Medical Wishes Known
This pamphlet includes a legal document template to write your own personal directive.
Advance Care Panning Resources from the Nova Scotia Hospice Palliative Care Association
Links to sample documents, and other websites about advance care planning.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Decision Aid
Respecting Choices®: Person Centred Care (2018)

Personal Directive Resources

Personal Directives in Nova Scotia
Government of Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia Health Personal Directive Form
Nova Scotia Health (2019)

My Personal Directive
An online app to create your PD.
Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia (LISNS)
Goals of Care
Goals of Care discussions are meant to achieve a shared understanding (between health care provider and patient) of your overall priorities and expectations for health care and perception of quality of life. In Nova Scotia, your health care team will work with you to fill out a Levels of Intervention form. This form is not the same as a PD, but reflects similar information and goals for treatment.