Realistic Medicine

The 6-step RED-MAP framework is recommended as a guide to anticipatory care planning (ACP) conversations in Scotland. It gives some examples of what we can say at each step and highlights key phrases you can adapt to different people and situations.

Some communication approaches are known to be helpful when talking about deteriorating health, future care planning, or death and dying.

The box below has some examples of these:

Choosing language carefully when having anticipatory care planning conversations can help support clear, unambiguous communication that people and their families can understand.

The box below has some helpful tips.

Anticipatory care planning is relevant in all care settings and can help a wide range of patients and families. Different approaches to ACP are used in Scotland including treatment escalation planning (TEP) and the ReSPECT process.

• Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) Toolkit offers guidance on anticipatory care planning for professionals.
• ACP prompt cards for professionals are available to download.
• NHS Inform has public information on anticipatory care planning.

To support staff in learning how to have meaningful conversations, anticipatory care planning toolkits have been developed.

The toolkits contain all the resources needed for experienced facilitators to run an interactive, online ACP conversation masterclass. They contain a detailed running order and script for the session, facilitator notes, and handouts for participants plus example clinical scenarios. Facilitators are encouraged to adapt the scenario to the learning needs of their participants. The toolkits can also be used for in-person training.