The Care Compass helps people talk about and plan for life's later chapters. Share what matters most through simple questions about your values and care wishes.
Your Care Compass lives in your phone's digital wallet and can be shared instantly with family and doctors. It's a clear guide that ensures your voice is heard when it matters most.
How it works
Answer questions about what's important to you, then choose one care approach:
- Full medical intervention: all available treatments to extend life
- Balanced care: treatment when meaningful quality of life can be maintained
- Supportive care only: comfort in familiar surroundings, avoiding hospital transfers
- Trust your care team: let your family and doctors guide choices together
- A card in your digital wallet (Apple or Google)
- A QR code for easy sharing
- An optional physical card for your wallet
- A simple one-page summary
It's free, takes 15 minutes, and can be updated anytime.
Who is the Care Compass for?
The first release of the Care Compass is designed for family caregivers – anyone helping aging parents, in-laws, or loved ones plan for their later years, often while juggling work, relationships, and other family responsibilities.
How it works for family caregivers
Step 1: You answer the questions. As a family caregiver, you work through the Care Compass on behalf of someone you're caring for – for example, your mum, dad, or in-law. This creates a first draft based on what you know about their values and wishes.
Step 2: Review together. Sit down with them to review the draft Care Compass. Together, you can talk about what matters most, make changes, and ensure it truly reflects their wishes and preferences.
Step 3: They confirm it's right. The person the Care Compass is for provides an electronic signature to confirm it accurately reflects their wishes. This step must be completed before the Care Compass can be shared with family members or healthcare providers.
Why this approach works
We know that starting difficult conversations is hard. Most people don't know where to begin. The Care Compass gives you a starting point and a framework to guide the conversation. You can prepare the draft on your own time, then use it as a conversation starter. It takes the pressure off having to know exactly what to ask or how to begin.
Why it matters
The Care Compass is based on a proven tool used in healthcare, adapted for Australia by medical experts. It helps families start important conversations before a crisis happens, so everyone understands what's most important.
When families arrive at hospitals or aged care facilities with a completed Care Compass, healthcare providers immediately understand care priorities. Instead of making difficult decisions under pressure in hospital corridors, families can advocate confidently, knowing they're honouring their loved one's actual wishes.
Care shaped by who your loved one is and what's most important to them – not by crisis decisions made in hospital corridors.
What the Care Compass is NOT
It's not a legal document: it's a values-based guide (though it can support legal documents if you have them or want to create them).
It's not an Advance Care Directive: those are complex legal forms focused on specific medical decisions. The Care Compass uses simple, everyday language about your values. It will, however, help you prepare to complete an Advance Care Directive.
It's not frightening or overwhelming: no scary medical checkboxes or complicated jargon. Just clear questions about what matters to you.
It's not a full medical care plan: it focuses on your care priorities and values to guide conversations with doctors and family.
It's not hidden when you need it: always accessible through your phone.