Advance care directives can enable Aboriginal people to fulfil their end-of-life wishes to die in their community
The United Kingdom’s great wartime Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, once said “he who fails to plan is planning to fail”. These prescient words resonate for advanced care planning and end-of-life decision making.
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. Northern Territory Government. Advance Personal Planning Act 2013 (No. 35 of 2013). http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nt/num_act/appa201335o2013281 (accessed Mar 2017).
- 2. Sinclair C, Williams G, Knight A, Auret K. A public health approach to promoting advance care planning to Aboriginal people in regional communities. Aust J Rural Health 2014; 22: 23-28.
- 3. McGrath P. ‘I don’t want to be in that big city; this is my country here’: research findings on Aboriginal peoples’ preference to die at home. Aust J Rural Health 2007; 15: 264-268.
- 4. Sajiv C. Cultural considerations when providing care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) opting for conservative care. Nephrology 2013; doi: 10.1111/nep.12080 [Epub ahead of print].
- 5. Kelly L, Minty A. End-of-life issues for aboriginal patients: a literature review. Can Fam Physician 2007; 53: 1459-1465.
- 6. SA Health. Advance care yarning. Respecting patient choices: advance care planning. Melbourne: Austin Health, 2010. http://www.pallcare.asn.au/upload/info-resources/aboriginal-palliative-care-resources/Advance_Care_Yarning_ATSI_SA.pdf (accessed Mar 2017).
Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.
Eswaran Waran is a member of the RDH steering committee on ACDs and the Aboriginal people of the Top End.