Image by Glenda Rees

What matters most to you when you think about your health changing?

Advance care planning is a process of thinking and talking about your values and goals and what your preferences are for current and future health care. It helps you to understand what the future might hold, and say what health care you would or would not want, including end-of-life care.

A tohu (Māori design) made up of long flowing patterns which represent the pito (umbilical cord), designed to depict the journey of life. A central coil represents the person and their whānau, which is the essence of the design, and advance care plan
A middle-aged woman, an older man and a young child are sitting on a sofa, smiling and looking at a laptop.

Who is advance care planning for?

  • People who are well

  • People who are unwell

  • People in their last days

Free resources in English and te reo Māori are available to help you and your whānau with these conversations.

For physical copies of these resources email acp@tewhatuora.govt.nz

Bulk ordering options are available for clinicians through the clinician pages.

What are the benefits advance care planning?

1.

Advance care planning encourages conversations about what is important to you and your whānau

2.

Advance care planning can help you feel more in control, reduce anxiety and give you peace as you face the future

3.

Advance care planning can help you understand your condition in the face of serious illness, while building a stronger relationship with those treating you

4.

Advance care planning can help your whanau to understand your condition and reduce their anxiety as they understand what is important to you

5.

Advance care planning means you have control over how you are cared for and treated when you may not be able to speak for yourself

‘We are connected to the land from the first breath of life to the last. Our spirit is carried within the belly of the wind to the resting place of the ancestors.’

– Len Hetet, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Apa

Our story

The advance care planning story is reflected in several interconnected elements: a whakatauākī (proverb), a tohu (the proverb’s visual expression), the image of the kuaka bird, and our te reo Māori name - Tō tātou reo.

This page shows how all these elements link together.

A medical practitioner wearing blue scrubs is checking a patient’s heart with a stethoscope.

The programme

Since July 2016, the advance care planning programme has been coordinated by Te Tāhū Hauora Health Quality & Safety Commission.

The Commission’s work plan is developed with Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand districts, and includes implementation support, promotion, monitoring and evaluation and resource development.

Pito kōrero hou tonu
Latest news

Arthur Te Anini

‘It’s a plan that has been designed by me; not by the doctors, not by my children, but by me.’

A black and white photo of a Māori man. He is wearing glasses and a striped polo shirt and is smiling at the camera.