Campaign casts spotlight on end-of-life planning

The Straits Times, page C4 - https://www.straitstimes.com/life/never-too-early-ntu-undergraduates-start-campaign-to-advocate-end-of-life-planning

More than eight in 10 adults have not discussed with their aged parents what kind of care they would want in the event of serious illness. This is what four NTU undergraduates found from their survey of 105 Singapore residents aged between 35 and 59. The team also found that almost 60 per cent of the respondents do not know what their parents want for their end-of-life care. And 51 per cent do not know about advance care planning, which is to plan for one's future health and care preferences.

"Most people considered or discussed advance care planning only when faced with a serious illness, although such discussions should be done early, when we're still healthy and have the mental capacity to consider and express our personal wishes and values," says Ms Charlotte Chong, 22, from the NTU team. This led her and her teammates Emily Gouw, 22, Raelynn Tan, 22, and Phyllis Lee, 24, to come up with a campaign to raise awareness of and encourage conversations about advance care planning. The campaign, Living Wishes, hopes to drive home to adults aged between 35 and 59 the importance of planning for end-of-life care.