Advance care planning conversations help guide future health care decisions. These conversations with your child and their health care team may focus on goals, values, wishes and beliefs in relation to the child’s health, and the medical directives that will guide the care. They may also include exploring a child’s ability to understand, participate and be involved in their medical decision-making. 

Find more pediatric advance care planning resources from Canuck Place Children’s Hospice. 

In British Columbia, some young people under the age of 19 may be able to make their own medical decisions. "Mature minor consent" is the consent a child gives to receive or refuse health care after the child has been assessed by a health care provider as having the necessary understanding to give the consent. A child who is assessed by a health care provider as being capable to give consent is called a "mature minor".

A child who is a mature minor may make their own health care decisions independent of their parents' or guardians' wishes. In B.C. there is no set age when a child is considered capable to give consent.

Learn more about mature minor consent in B.C.

Planning ahead may help your child and you prepare for future decisions, reduce stress and support your child’s comfort and care. Advance care planning includes:

• Sharing illness understanding and what may be ahead in your child’s illness
• Thinking and talking about what matters most to your child and your family
• Exploring interventions and treatment options, and what they mean for your child’s care and comfort
• Creating documentation to reflect scope of medical treatment, goals and wishes

Advance care planning is a journey across your child’s illness. Plans and decisions change over time and it is important to work together. Your child’s healthcare team can help guide these conversations.

Questions to ask your child and reflect on as a family

• Who helps you make decisions around your child’s medical care?
• How do you and your child like to receive healthcare information?
• What does your child understand about their illness?
• Are there traditions, beliefs, or values that guide your child’s care?
• What does your child enjoy doing? What brings them comfort?
• What worries do you and your child have about your child’s health and care in the future?

Learn more about Talking with your child Canadian Virtual Hospice.

Questions to your health care providers

• What could the future look like for my child’s illness and medical care?
• What decisions might we need to make?
• What information can be provided to help explore the risks or benefits of certain treatments?
• What ways can my child participate in their medical decision making?
• What resources are available for our family?

Find additional guidance from Canuck Place Children’s Hospice in Talking to your care team about the future  (PDF, 226KB). 

Use the Provincial Pediatric Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (pMOST) Form (PDF, 148KB) to document decisions and preferences for your child's care. The first page is a medical order to be completed with a physician or nurse practitioner that guides care across health care settings in B.C. Page two is a collaborative document completed by a child, parent or health care provider to share child and family preferences and aspects of care supportive to shared decision-making.