22 Choices in later life: ACP in the context of death literacy. A community education program

<h3></h3> Commencing in 2022, and with the aim of advancing community knowledge about advance care planning, we commenced public seminars on the subjects of: Advance Care Plans (ACP) Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) Palliative Care Death doulas Funeral Planning Also, financial and digital estate planning, end-of-life events, organ donation, advice for a surviving partner and death from a perspective of spirituality, if requested. Seminars run for 3 hours with 15-minute presentations by expert speakers as well as time for discussion and evaluation. Each seminar concludes with the distribution of hard copy resources for further study or action. Ten (10) seminars to 425 participants have been conducted, mostly in retirement village venues (70%) with a predominantly 70-year-old plus demography. Fewer than 30% had completed an Advance Care Plan at the time of the seminar. The seminars were highly rated (average score of 4.71 on a scale 1–5), with VAD (4.72) rating higher than Palliative Care (4.64) and ACP (4.63), followed by Death doulas (4.47) and Funerals (4.43). In conclusion, we advocate that community education about advanced care planning is conducted in the context of end-of-life choices. This may include a description of death events, palliative care, organ donation and voluntary assisted dying. Resources in law, medicine, community health, religion and the funeral industry can be used. We are not there yet, but programs such as these can help.