A NEW INITIATIVE will allow people in Ireland to store their wishes for medical care, for use in the event of an emergency of serious illness, online.
The second phase of the Irish Hospice Foundation’s Think Ahead project will be launched later today by Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
The programme, which encourages people to “Think, Talk, Tell, and record and review their personal preferences for future medical, financial and personal care”, was already available in printed format, but a pilot scheme will now see this information stored online behind a secure sever.
“Not enough people have a pension or have made a will,” Justice Catherine McGuinness, chair of the Forum on End of Life in Ireland said.
“Fewer still have taken the time to decide who they would like to be contacted in the event of an emergency, or how to make important decisions known to their loved ones. Our ambition is that every citizen in Ireland will use Think Ahead as an important planning tool.”
The new phase will use Patients Known Best, a system already in several countries, is described as “fully secure”.
It allows patients to organise plans for what they want for their own health care provisions.
The development of the online version of Think Ahead will be funded by Third Age.
Research published earlier this year in the Irish Medical Journal showed that 83% of people “had discussions on end-of-life planning with family members after reading Think Ahead”.
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