In February 2007, following a detailed review of the subject, the Irish Council for Bioethics, in Dublin, produced an excellent report entitled, “Is It Time for Advance Healthcare Directives?”. This stressed that “There is a need for increased awareness of and education about the issues surrounding advance directives for all concerned, from the general public, to doctors and other healthcare professionals”; that “Increased communication and discussion between all parties (ie. individuals, their families and others close to them, doctors and other healthcare professionals) will not only help to provide an insight into an individual’s preferences regarding future treatment and care, it will also enable all parties to be better prepared for these and other future treatment situations”; and finally, this report emphasized that “While advance directives are widely advocated for end-of-life decisions, they should be seen as part of an overall process that aims to adjust and improve the culture of end-of-life treatment and care for all parties concerned”.

In the introduction to this February 2007 report, the Irish Council for Bioethics noted that “The commonly used term

‘Living Will’ refers specifically to a written advance healthcare directive”.

In December 2007, Dr. Michael Irwin, a former Medical Director of the United Nations, produced the first draft for an Irish “Advance Healthcare Directive” form (after he had reviewed similar Living Wills from twenty countries around the world and selected what he thought were the best elements to be incorporated into this initial draft). This document was sent, in January and February 2008, to 500 members of the Humanist Association of Ireland and the Humanist Association of Northern Ireland for their comments, as well as being made available to officials in sixteen organizations in Dublin, ranging from the Irish Patients Association to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, from the Medical Council to the Law Reform Commission, and from the Alzheimer Society of Ireland to the Irish Council for Bioethics. Further revisions of the draft were made in March and April, following inputs from most of these sources, and the final document was produced in May 2008.

From this website, you may now download as many copies of this Advance Healthcare Directive as you wish by clicking here - for yourself, your family, and your friends - without making any payments. All the Living Wills Trust hopes is that this form will give you, and those around you, peace of mind about your possible future medical care.