General care planning

General care planning is the development of an individual management or care plan to address a patient’s current health problems, and those expected to arise in the future as illness progresses. For example, planning for patients with heart failure should involve ensuring access to medications and documenting who to call for help if they wake up at night with acute shortness of breath. The common problems are often predictable, but their timing is not.

General care planning can be done alongside advance care planning. Advance care planning is frequently overlooked or put off, however, it provides a good opportunity for the clinician to prepare a general management or care plan at the same time.

Communicating a management or care plan to relevant healthcare professionals and the patient, family and carers can help them to be prepared as the situation changes.

For information on assessing symptoms and setting and reviewing management plans, see Principles of symptom management in palliative care.