The purpose of this presentation is to use insights from The Enhanced Advance care planning and life Review Longitudinal Intervention (EARLI) Project to explore how speech pathologists have the necessary skills and experience to support advance care planning discussions, and how life story work can be used as a tool in this context. The aim of The EARLI Project is to examine how life story work can support advance care planning. The EARLI Project (a cluster randomised control trial) engaged participants aged 65 and over living in community in the intervention and documented the outcomes in advance care planning readiness and completion. Speech pathologist, Ava Karusoo-Musumeci, delivered the intervention in NSW and provided valuable skills and insights from her speech pathology background which enhanced the study. Insights gained from this practice so far have shown that speech pathologists have valuable skills when it comes to advance care planning, including high-level communication skills, knowledge of communication supports, experience in facilitating supported decision making, and clinical knowledge of the trajectory of communication and swallow ability within particular diagnoses. Speech pathologists can also use their knowledge of life story work practices to support advance care planning discussions. In conclusion, this presentation explores an emerging area of practice for speech pathologists in advance care planning. By utilising existing skills, speech pathologists can be valuable supporters of these important conversations.

1. Speech pathologists have necessary skills to support advance care planning conversations.2. Speech pathologists can use existing skills in life story work to support advance care planning discussions.3. Advance care planning is an important area of communication and can require support, even for individuals without communication disorder or disability.