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Things to think about It can sometimes appear that people choose the time to die, for example, waiting for a close relative to arrive, or until a special date. But sometimes the person can die unexpectedly or alone. It’s not possible to explain why people die the moment they do. In most cases, …

One of the biggest challenges of being a carer for someone with a terminal illness is knowing when to ask for help. There may be certain crossroads in your caring journey when you will ask yourself different questions about when is the right time to ask for help and where to go for it: Who sho…

Here’s a summary of how you and the person you care for can work together to get their financial affairs in order in preparation for end of life. It explores what funding sources are out there to support the person you care for, as well as you as their carer. Getting financial affairs in order …

Funding end of life care can be expensive, not just for the person you care for but also for you as the carer. The person you care for may have had to give up work because they are too unwell and/or you may have had to give up work to provide the care they need. There are a range of sources of …

Here’s a quick guide for planning end of life care with the person you care for. It explores the importance of taking a planned approach and highlights a number of ways in which, together, you can make an advance plan whilst the person you care for has the mental capacity to make their own decisi…

Mental capacity is the ability to make a decision. A person’s ability to make a decision can be time and decision specific. This means that when trying to establish if a person has mental capacity or not it will depend on when the decision needs to be made and what the decision is, so the person …

Planning ahead together involves you talking with the person you care for about what they want and don’t want in terms of their future care, final days, and after death. Planning ahead involves recording their wishes, so you, the wider family, and health and social care professionals know what to…

​An Advance Statement (sometimes called a ”Statement of Wishes) allows the person you care for to record their wishes, feelings, beliefs, lifestyle choices, and values in case they become unwell and need care and treatment. An advance statement can be about anything that is important to them in r…

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) allows the person you care for to give someone they trust, such as you as their carer, the legal power to make decisions on their behalf if they lack capacity to make those decisions for themselves. The person making the LPA (the person you care for) is called th…

Advance Care Plans are usually made by someone with their healthcare team when they are approaching end of life, although they can be started at any stage in life. The plan is used to record the person’s treatment and care wishes and can be reviewed and updated. If the person you care for has…