Advance Care Planning (ACP) ｜Advance Medical Directive (AMD)

Service Overview

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is a meaningful process of communication and foresight. It allows you to reflect on and express your future healthcare preferences while you still possess decision-making capacity. Our professional team provides neutral and gentle guidance, facilitating dialogues with your family to ensure your values are respected, even if you can no longer speak for yourself. This proactive planning relieves your family of the immense burden of making critical decisions during a crisis.

ACP is an ongoing communication process involving the individual, family members and healthcare professionals. An Advance Medical Directive (AMD), by contrast, is a formally signed medical and legal document. ACP does not equate to making an AMD. If you wish to formalise certain preferences regarding life-sustaining treatment in a legal document, you may consider learning more about AMD based on your personal needs.

The Advance Decision on Life-Sustaining Treatment Ordinance came into operation on 31 July 2026, providing a legal framework for Advance Medical Directives (AMDs). A validly made AMD allows you to express your wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment in advance while you still have mental capacity. Under current Hong Kong law, a person making an AMD must be aged 18 or above and have the capacity to make the relevant decisions. The AMD must also meet the prescribed signing and witnessing requirements. The directive will only take effect when you later lose the mental capacity to make healthcare decisions and the specified conditions are met.

We can help you understand the AMD process and facilitate communication with your doctor and family members, so that your healthcare wishes are respected and properly arranged.