Advance Directive

The Advance Directive allows you to plan for any future crisis. It can be difficult to make decisions when you are in crisis so the Advance Directive lets you record your decisions while you are well. This document was first produced by the group in 2001 and has been  revised to take account of changes in the law.

Having an advance directive allows you to:

• State your choices about any medication or treatment you would prefer.
• State your choices about any medication or treatment you would not want.
• Give instructions about who you would want to care for your children or pets.
• Give information to workers about what has worked in the past and what has not worked when you have been unwell.
• Ensure your home is secure and that you decide who holds a key to your home if you are in hospital.

You can make an advance directive on your own but it is usually better to talk things through with your family, friends, carers, advocate, doctor or other worker. Your advance directive should be witnessed to ensure that it is a legal document.

It is useful to make sure that those involved in your care are aware that you have an advance directive and you may also want to consider giving a copy to your worker/psychiatrist so that it can be put in your notes. An advance directive means that your views will known even if you are too ill to make important decisions at the time. An advance directive can be over ruled in certain cases (for example by the Mental Health Act) but the doctors involved in your care must take your views into account when they are deciding on your treatment and would have to justify any decision not to comply with your wishes.

You don't have to use a form to complete your Advance Directive but there is a template here that you may find useful. We have had our Advance Directive checked by a solicitor but we cannot take responsiblity for your personal advance directive so we would advice you to contact a solicitor for legal advice.

An alternative way of making your decisions know is through making a WRAP plan, this is  a tool to help you to improve your health and wellbeing. It also includes a Crisis Plan that you can use to make advance decisions. You can find more information about WRAP here

We'd love to hear from you if you have used an Advance directive or if you want more information or support to complete your own Advance directive please contact us at:

VOICE of Service Users, Printer's Yard, Fenton St, Scunthorpe, DN15 6QX

or telephone 01724 858343 or e-mail voicesum@yahoo.co.uk