Voiceover: We’re here today to have a conversation about something we can all find a little difficult to talk about.
Michelle: Oop... oop… no glasses.
Sandy: Is it ever too early to plan? No. Done.
Leyton: Well if you’re alive and you… and you…[laughs] and I think that’s basically it.
Rosslyn: It’s never too early to plan for anything but particularly around death because it is the one thing that we are all certain will happen.
Bill: Who knows what’s going to happen when I’m driving home from this interview.
Rosslyn: Having worked with people who have been diagnosed with serious illnesses like cancer, they tell me that it is a bolt out of the blue. That they had no idea that they were going to get this diagnosis and immediately their life changed overnight.
Leyton: And it might happen tomorrow, then planning today is the best idea. So I don’t think it’s ever too early to plan.
Rosslyn: I’ve just asked my… and assisted my 18-year-old son to do an Advance Health Directive.
Linh: I have actually completed my Advance Health Directive, and the reason why (and even though I’m quite young) is I know fare well that my parents have a very different opinion to my care than my husband.
Bill: It’s hard to engage younger people in it because it doesn’t seem particularly relevant but I guess it’s like superannuation. Who cares about it until you’re about to retire; “Oh, should have done that 25 years ago”.
Maria: You may not plan it down to the fine detail, but you can start thinking in those lines.
Rosslyn: And I’m hoping that I never will have to use those documents for my son, but it gives me a bit of peace of mind that I’ve got them in place.
Bill: It gives families a big amount of confidence when you’re asking them to make decisions when they’ve actually had any sort of discussion with their loved ones
Michelle: If you start planning, that means that the people that are with you with this journey don’t have to make those plans for you.
Rosslyn: It is to be remembered though that while you are able to answer, even if it’s with the squeeze of a hand or the blink of an eye, you will always be asked what it is that you want.
Sandy: And you’ve actually got the benefit of time to plan a lot of the hard stuff.
Linh: And there’s no right time, but I think the earlier the better.
