Future care planning within end-of-life care - a scoping review of the literature

The term Future Care Planning is increasingly applied in palliative care settings worldwide. Future care planning has been adopted as part of several national strategies, including in Wales and in Scotland. In Wales, the terminology was chosen by patient/carer advocates as a more understandable term than advance, anticipatory or advanced [sic] care planning. One of the core activities is the traditionally understood advance care planning ethos; importantly it includes and incorporates patients with diminished capacity at the time of information gathering, for whom a best interest decision making approach should be followed. A clear and consistent definition of Future Care Planning would support health and social care professionals working in frailty and palliative care.