Advance Directive (AD)

An Advance Directive is consent or refusal to specific treatment(s) offered in the future when the person does not have capacity to make a decision. To be valid, an AD must meet the following criteria:

• The person must have been competent when the AD was written or stated.
• They must have been adequately informed.
• Their decision must have been made voluntarily and be free from any undue influence.
• The AD must have been intended to apply in the current circumstances.

In the absence of reasonable grounds to doubt validity, an AD should ordinarily be honoured. An AD can be a written document or a verbal statement.

Note: A client or family cannot demand in advance any medical treatment that would not ordinarily be offered. Each clinician makes a decision regarding the type of treatment which is likely to be beneficial to a client. If a treatment is not medically indicated it should not be offered. This position is supported by the New Zealand Medical Council.