Dr Fiona Morrissey: Why we all should be having conversations about our wishes and values

Advance care planning tends to be associated with end-of-life care, but it is used in a wide variety of contexts, including mental health and maternity care.

Advance care planning allows us to have a voice in our healthcare. File Picture.

Our capacity to make healthcare decisions can be impacted at any stage due to factors like illness, accidents or Covid-19.

If we don’t plan for such eventualities, someone else will make these decisions, and the decisions may not be based on our wishes. It is critical to plan for periods when our decision-making capacity may be affected, not just for ourselves, but for people around us.