I’m writing this post Dying Matters Awareness Week 2023, the aim of which is to encourage and normalise discussion about matters which are typically taboo. Death and dying, grief and bereavement are things we avoid talking about; Advance Care Planning sits at that table to.

This year I took part in three online events and delivered one at my local library, it was an exhausting but worthwhile week and I hope one which generated thought and conversations.

I took the opportunity during the presentations to share a model I have developed to explain Advance Care Planning simply and clearly; I call it Getting Your House in Order.

Getting Your House in Order

Let me take you through the house……

It is built on firm foundations, What Matters Most to a person, and from there the windows represent the different components of Advance Care Planning. You can see the windows for the following themes:

· What you do want

· What you don’t want

· Who would speak for you

· Your legacy

I have added a window for End of Life Care and what is useful is seeing that this is one component but by no means all of Advance Care Planning. Too often, Advance Care Planning is associated with End of Life Care by which time opportunities for meaningful planning are lost.

Looking in detail at the End of Life Care window, it can be explored from a clinical view in terms of years, months, weeks and days or to the public reflecting on the chapters of an illness.

The sun and the cloud can be used to represent hoping for the best but preparing for the rest and the door? Well, with Advance Care Planning in place the hope is if an event comes knocking at your door you are ready not caught unawares.

I am finding the image is working as a great infographic to show the components of Advance Care Planning, however the real beauty of this model is the ability to really look behind the windows. Having presented an overarching concept of Advance Care Planning each window can be opened to see what lies behind, from a statement of wishes, ADRTs , LPAs to Digital Legacy , it’s all there.

The model is great for a five-minute overview of Advance Care Planning or can be the basis for an hour or even a complete day of exploring each window and how they all fit together. I’m using it frequently and no doubt you’ll see the model grow in terms of graphic design but the concept is here to stay.

I have spent a long while trying to think up a design to visually express Advance Care Planning and am exceptionally proud of this, I think it works well and look forward to your thoughts and feedback.

If you would like to find out the story behind the image or enquire about a session for your workplace on Getting Your contact me.