Your story, your choice: supporting advance care planning in primary care

This National Advance Care Planning Week (March 16 to 22, 2026) NWMPHN and Northern Health are partnering to offer the opportunity to learn more about the importance of advance care planning and how to incorporate these principles into primary care.

Advanced care planning (ACP) allows a person to prepare for a situation in which they may no longer be able to make their own medical or health care decisions. Primary care providers have an opportunity to begin discussions about this difficult topic and align the goals and preferences of the people they know best. 

Proactive communication and normalising these conversations are essential. Some people will not engage; others will want to know more and even write information down in an advance care directive. 

This workshop will build the confidence, capacity and capability in this field. There will be opportunities for questions and case discussions about your experiences within the session.

National Advance Care Planning Week 2026: Your story, your choice: your story is yours to tell, and your health care choices deserve to be heard.

Speakers:

Ella Critchley is program manager of ACP at Northern Health and chair of the Victorian ACP Community of Practice. Ella’s professional background encompasses over 20 years in the health care industry. She is an experienced nurse leader with a strong sense of integrity who effectively and enthusiastically supports clinicians in understanding ACP. She has a Master of Healthy Ageing and builds strong, positive and meaningful relationships. 

Dr Hao Zhuo is a geriatrician and palliative medicine physician working at Northern Health and Melbourne City Mission Palliative Care. He is the clinical lead of the Northern ACP program and works to encourage discussion and understanding to promote person-centred care through shared decision-making. He is involved in teaching and supervision and is interested in listening and learning from the stories we all have and share.

Learning outcomes:

• Describe the purpose and process of advance care planning to one of your patients
• Identify the correct medical treatment decision-maker for each of your patients
• Describe the principles of shared decision-making and informed consent, and how this applies when treating patients