On Thursday August 8, Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) was proud to officially launch a new resource – ‘Planning Your Future Medical Care – a Guide for older people’.

The guide was launched by Age Discrimination Commissioner, Robert Fitzgerald AM who provided a keynote address, while Victorian Minister for Ageing, Hon Ingrid Stitt MP shared a video message. Other guests included Gerard Mansour, former Commissioner for Seniors Victorians; and other partners and supporters.

Michael Smith, CEO of ECLC, said the Centre was proud to be launching this guide that will serve as a practical tool for older Victorians as they plan their future medical care needs.” Mr. Smith said.

“The Centre was honoured to have Robert Fitzgerald AM, Age Discrimination Commissioner present at the launch and we thank the Commissioner for his support and continued work in preventing elder abuse,” added Mr. Smith.

Older people feel increasingly invisible and voiceless, according to the Commissioner.  They want to remain active participants in their communities and the decisions that affect them.  Losing agency can lead to a profound sense of powerlessness and exclusion from community life and decision-making processes.

“This guide is about giving voice, presence and choice in the most important part of our lives when we get older, which is our health… and to do so early enough that it actually has real meaning.” said Commissioner Fitzgerald.

“Older people should have the right to participate in the decisions that affect them. And more importantly the right to participate in the designs of the systems that are meant to support them. This particular project is part of that.”

The guide aims to help older people make sure their wishes are followed if they can’t make medical decisions in the future and has a particular focus on:

• Appointing a medical treatment decision-maker
• Completing an advance care directive
• Talking to people you trust

According to the Commissioner, “The guide is a really important tool. What it realises is that as we age and health issues become more and more significant, the tragedy for most of us is that we wait and we don’t have conversations with our family members… and because of our reluctance to deal with mortality generally, we don’t do any of the things that the guide actually says.”

“If this guide has the effect of encouraging older people to have these deep and difficult conversations with their relatives … and deal with the end-of-life issues in a better way, the quality of aging for those who do that will be so much better,” added the Commissioner.

In relation to elder abuse, the Commissioner noted that we were at the starting point and that there was an awareness now in the community that older people are abused, not only in institutions such as aged care or health care but by their family members.

“The vast majority of abuse of older people is by their sons and daughters. In NSW, in the Ageing and Disability Commission, about 66 per cent of abuse is by sons and daughters and 10 to 15 per cent by spouses…the challenge now is how we are going to build a system that responds to it.”

Mr. Smith added that a significant proportion of ECLC’s clients have experienced elder abuse within their family and the Centre had a longstanding commitment to both responding to elder abuse and undertaking projects to prevent elder abuse.”

“Planning your Future Medical Care is a great resource to help older people be informed and plan for their future and also helps prevent elder abuse,” added Mr. Smith.

Commissioner Fitzgerald emphasised that while we cannot ensure that lives are completely risk free, ECLC’s guide aims to minimise harm and empower older people as much as possible.

“This is a terrific piece of work. It’s practical, it’s clear and it’s going to make a difference,” said the Commissioner.

The Centre is thrilled that the Commissioner had such positive feedback about the new guide and hopes that the resource will reach as many older people as possible to assist them to plan their future medical care.

The Guide was developed with extensive community consultation and was funded by the Victorian Government.

A FREE downloadable version of the guide and its summary document in 10 community languages is available here: https://eclc.org.au/futuremedicalcare/

*ECLC sincerely thanks Maddocks for generously providing the venue for the launch event.

ECLC’s Elder Abuse Prevention and Response programs

The Centre’s elder abuse programs provide integrated legal support to older people in the East, through ROSE in partnership with Oonah Belonging Place and ELSA, a Health Justice Partnership with Eastern Health.

ECLC also leads the Eastern Elder Abuse Network (EEAN), a network of over 50 organisations working to prevent, raise awareness of, and respond to elder abuse. Together, the EEAN is working towards a world where all people regardless of age are safe, valued and respected.