“Getting old is not funny,” a 90-year-old friend of mine told me recently. But there are more of us living into our 80s and 90s than ever before.

While this may be a comforting thought in one respect, there are problems associated with living longer. One of those is what will happen to people when they are no longer able to look after themselves and what plans do they want to make for the end of their lives.

It’s a delicate subject and one that some older people may not wish to either acknowledge or discuss.

But it is a good idea to make plans for your own care and the end of your life while you are able to understand the options and chose what you want.

Onside Advocacy, a Worcester-based charity providing practical and proactive support to ensure disadvantaged people are treated fairly, is now offering an Advance Care Planning service.

Trained volunteers are available to help anyone over the age of 70 living at home and registered with a GP in Worcester to talk through the issues of care and support they may want as they approach the end of their lives.

The workers visit people in their homes or a place that is comfortable for them and work with them to create a plan they are happy with and is right for them.

Julie Adams, Onside volunteer, said: “It was a scheme that got off the ground by a former Worcester GP who wanted to focus on care for the elderly. She did some training for the Onside volunteers and then Onside got the contract to deliver this service.

“It is a very small project at the moment but it is particularly relevant to people who have no family members close by and no-one to talk things through with.”

The volunteers go through issues like power of attorney and its implications, what type of care is available and a person would like in the future, their preferred place of dying, whether they wish to be resuscitated if their heart stops, whether they would prefer to avoid hospital , their will and their funeral plan.

The aim is to help them understand all the options and select their preferences in case their memory and their ability to comprehend the issues deteriorates in the future.

Julie added: “One of the advantages of this service is that we do not have any emotional involvement with the person that a family member would have.

“We can do research on issues for them and go back to them and give them the options. It is geared towards people making decisions before it is too late. Also, everyone is different.

“It is very difficult for some older people to find out about services and what they need in their latter years if they have missed out on the technical revolution. Some of them do not use the internet and cannot look up information online. Just having someone to broker things and explain things and ask questions can help.

“We may talk to people about what they want if they end up going to hospital and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is required and whether they want that or not. Most people are surprised that there is just a 22 per cent success rate for CPR and that it often causes broken bones and other injuries and may only prolong life for a short time.”

Once the person has looked at the issues associated with their future care and end of their life, the volunteer helps them complete a form recording their preferences. The person then chooses who they wish this information to be shared with e.g. their GP, the ambulance service, district nurses, hospital and social care services.

“The big advantage is that people can put forward preferences like where they want to be cared for if they have a terminal condition. It may be at home, in a hospice or a nursing home. At least they can express preferences. The Advance Care Planning aims to make sure people’s individual wishes are respected,” said Julie.

The people who have gone through this process feel a sense of relief, she said.

“It is quite a big step for people to take initially and the people I have worked with have been eminently practical and wanting to do the right thing for themselves and their family and not become a burden.

“I have found people have a sense of ‘It’s a job done’ and relief. ‘We have not got to think about that again’.”

One elderly man who used the Onside Advanced Care Planning service said: “l phoned Onside for help to plan our future as my wife and I live on our own and both have deteriorating health. The Onside workers have been the greatest help in preparing our Advance Care Plan so that whatever unexpected problems arise for us in future, arrangements are in place to obtain the help we need”.

Onside Advocacy, established in 1993, helps to improve the lives of 2,700 vulnerable adults across Worcestershire and Herefordshire every year.

It employs 60 people and has 200 volunteers.

Anyone who wants to find out more about the Advance Care Planning service or other Onside services can call 01905 27525, email info@onside-advocacy.org.uk, visit www.onside-advocacy.org.uk or write to Onside Independent Advocacy, Williamson House, 14 Charles Street, Worcester, WR1 2AQ.