Legal professionals
Strengthen your effectiveness in facilitating advance care planning and drafting personal directives for your clients.
To maximize the potential of advance care planning to improve quality of care, the Palliative Institute led a medical-legal collaboration to bridge professional silos, identify gaps and jointly develop the following resources.
Resources for legal professionals
Joint practice principles
The joint practice principles were developed by members of the legal and health care sectors and others who have roles in advance care planning through a series of focus groups conducted by the Palliative Institute in 2023-2024. They are intended to help professionals strengthen the effectiveness of their practices and encourage collaborative approaches to advance care planning.
Alberta Medical-Legal Joint Practice Principles on Advance Care Planning
Best practice guide
This guide contains the joint practice principles as well as companion recommendations for legal practice in Alberta. These recommendations are intended to increase the likelihood that advance care plans are followed in health care settings and include rationale and examples from health care providers and the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee, precedent language and recommended resources.
Advance Care Planning and Personal Directives: Recommendations for Legal Practice in Alberta
Personal directive template
This personal directive template was created by Alberta lawyers, healthcare professionals, the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee and the Palliative Institute to address shortcomings relating to personal directives and to increase the likelihood that they will be used in health care settings. It is meant to be used by lawyers, in accordance with the Personal Directives Act of Alberta and the best practice guide above.
Presentations
Using case scenarios and expert analysis, these presentations illustrate issues and best practices at the intersection of legal and health care roles in advance care planning. They describe Alberta legislation and health policies as well as health care realities that impact the effectiveness of personal directives.
- Primer for Medical-Legal Symposium on Advance Care Planning:
- Aligning Practice to Reality: Understanding Advance Care Planning, Legal Education Society of Alberta
- Advance care planning presentations for public audiences