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This will give you greater control over your situation. It will also help to ensure your health choices are influenced by what matters most to you. Working with your healthcare team will lead to better and safer healthcare for you.
There are many opportunities to be involved in conversations about your care. We encourage you to be involved as much as you would like during the following as an inpatient:
We will try to explain information about your care in a way you can understand. But sometimes we don’t get it right. It is important that you ask questions if you are unsure about the information that has been provided.
The following strategies may help:
We will ask you about your goals of care.
A goal of care is what you want to achieve or the things you want to be able to do. A goal could be being able to walk up steps, recover and get home, spend time with grandchildren or be well enough to go on a trip.
It is important for you to tell us about what matters to you, so that we can provide care which helps you to meet your goals.
Here are some tips about setting goals, and examples of things you can do to make sure that everyone in the healthcare team knows what matters to you.
Write a list or discuss what is important to you with those who support you.
Consider things like your needs and preferences for care and the outcomes that matter most to you.
When making decisions about your care, talk to your healthcare team about how different care options will help you to achieve your goals.
Talk to your healthcare team about who you want to have involved in your care, and how they will work with you towards your goals.
You may find it helpful to keep a record of your agreed goals of care.
Your healthcare team will keep record of any goals you tell us about in your medical record.
You may need to have more than one conversation with your healthcare team about your goals.
Over time or with change in circumstance, you may decide on new goals. This is OK - let us know if your goals have changed.
You can also download the information from this page as a fact sheet.
For further information contact:
Phone: 03 9496 5000