Tender Proposal: Review of Models and Guidelines for Advance Healthcare Directive Registers
Request for Tender Proposals:
Review of Models and Guidelines for Advance Healthcare Directive Registers
Overview
Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) is a national charity that addresses dying, death and bereavement in Ireland and in 2026 we are celebrating our 40th anniversary.
Recently, IHF has developed our organisational Advocacy Strategy which outlines our key priorities to demonstrate thought leadership, influence decision-makers and promote and inform policy change through targeted actions and communication. It sets out how advocacy can support IHF to deliver on our Strategic Plan 2025 – 2030 Every Death Matters: Transforming Dying, Death and Bereavementby critically reflecting on the advocacy priorities, issues, audiences, desired outcomes and IHF’s role.
A core part of this Advocacy Strategy is advocating for the establishment of a Register of Advance Healthcare Directives (AHD). As part of this work IHF wishes to commission an experienced researcher to undertake a comprehensive review of models and guidelines for AHD Registers. The purpose of this review is to examine how AHD Registers are defined, implemented, and utilised in different jurisdictions.
Budget: €7,000
Closing date for receipt of proposals: 12th July 2026
About Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF)
IHF is a national charity that addresses dying, death and bereavement in Ireland. Our vision is an Ireland where people facing end of life or bereavement, and those who care for them, are provided with the care and support that they need. Our mission is to work towards the best end-of-life and bereavement care for all.
Context for an Advance Healthcare Directives (AHD) Register in Ireland
An AHD is a document setting out a person’s wishes in relation to one or more healthcare treatment decisions. It comes into effect when the person lacks the decision-making capacity to make healthcare treatment decisions for themselves. An AHD is a legally recognised document in Ireland under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, as amended.[1]
A Register of AHDs can ensure that a person’s preferences are clearly documented and easily accessible to healthcare professionals when important decisions need to be made. A Register of AHDs is currently not available in Ireland; although the Minister for Health has the power to make regulations to provide it under Part 8 of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015.[2]
The Decision Support Service (DSS) has a statutory role in maintaining a register of AHDs where required by regulations made under Section 84(12) of this Act. The DSS has designed and developed a searchable register in the expectation that at a future point they would be required to register AHDs in Ireland.
This review will inform the work being undertaken by IHF to advocate for the establishment of this Register of AHDs as part of our advocacy strategy.
Aims and Objectives
The primary aim of this research is to identify and examine models and guidelines for the implementation of AHD Registers where they have been established. This literature review will explore international experience, operational design, governance frameworks, and legal considerations, with a view to informing the implementation of an AHD Register in Ireland.
Specific objectives include:
To define the rationale, concept and function of AHD Registers. **
To identify the general characteristics of national/regional AHD Registers, what are the key success factors, enablers, challenges and facilitators and outline the potential benefits, risks, and consequences associated with them.
To identify governance, oversight, and resourcing requirements, including cost implications.
To examine legal and policy considerations for implementation, such as registration, access, validation, consent, data protection, and clinical liability among others.
To provide a brief overview of how an AHD Register in Ireland would align with relevant legislative and policy frameworks in Ireland, for example the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015.
** Evidence from the review may inform the role of AHDs in healthcare decision-making, communication, and the potential efficiencies they offer, as well as their contribution to patient autonomy, dignity, and safeguarding.
Approach
The successful tenderer will be expected to outline, in their proposal, their approach to the work to include:
A structured review of literature, with a strong methodologic systematic approach (e.g. integrative, systematic or scoping review), of national and international evidence, including academic research, policy documents, and grey literature.
Comparative analysis of jurisdictions where AHD Registers are operational, with attention to implementation models and outcomes.
Examination of legislative and regulatory frameworks relevant to AHDs and healthcare decision-making.
Identification of best practice principles and transferable lessons applicable to the Irish context.
This will be a collaborative project with the team in IHF and key stakeholders providing input and engaging at key stages of the review and delivery. While the appointed researcher(s) will lead the day-to-day work independently, this approach is intended to maintain the autonomy of the research process, while allowing for meaningful engagement from a working group to clarify expectations, guide direction, and ensure the quality and relevance of the outputs.
Additional considerations:
Data sharing
Researchers will be expected to:
Provide guidance and timely responses to IHF-generated queries relating to the research review both during and on completion of the work.
Share raw data collected and further relevant research documents (e.g. search strategy details etc) in a format that is accessible to IHF.
Share the analysed data (e.g. data extraction) with IHF in a format that supports the narrative write-up of findings (e.g. PRISMA literature review).
Dissemination
The final report will remain the property of IHF. It may be edited to align with internal style and formatting guidelines and used for internal publication and strategic purposes.
IHF is committed to sharing its research in both academic and non-academic formats to reach a range of expert and non-expert audiences. IHF will retain rights to all dissemination activities, including internal and external publications, presentations and other forms of knowledge sharing. Findings from this research may also contribute to external publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, depending on scope and relevance.
IHF is committed to recognising the contributions of all individuals involved in research we undertake. Authorship will follow the criteria set out by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). All contributors who meet these criteria will be appropriately credited in any dissemination activities.
Deliverables
The successful tenderer will be required to provide the following outputs:
An initial outline document setting out the preliminary findings of emerging themes and early analysis.
Final report addressing the research objectives noted above including an abstract, brief contextual introduction/background, methods, results, discussion of findings and clear, evidence-based recommendations or reflections of contribution to policy and practice for the potential development and implementation of an AHD Register in Ireland.
Executive summary that is a concise and accessible overview of the key findings and recommendationswith a short contextual background and brief overview of the methods. This will be aimed at a non-expert audience including policymakers.
Ongoing engagement throughout the report development with a final presentation of report findings to relevant members of the appointed team in IHF.
Provision of the final data management and analysis file.
Tender proposals must include:
Process/timetable listing key milestones (for reporting progress on the key stages of development) and proposed dates for meeting these
Methodology and methods to be used – including which search strategy, data analysis methods and tools will be used
Detailed budget breakdown, including staff time and costs (inclusive of VAT)
Breakdown of time allocation
Identification of any conflicts of interest
Description of relevant expertise and prior experience of team involved
Examples of similar work undertaken, where relevant
Contact details for two referees, that IHF can contact who have engaged with you for similar/ related work
Budget
The budget for this work will be a maximum of€7,000 and must include VATand other associated expenses.
Assessment criteria
In line with IHF procedures, tenders will be assessed against the following criteria:
Quality of proposed methods and approach to the work in relation to the outlined objectives
Expertise of the project team in relation to the proposed methodology
Knowledge and experience of the team in relation dying, death and bereavement and advance care planning
Experience of undertaking similar work
Overall quality of the tender proposal
Cost of the work
Approach to Methodology and Work 40%
Knowledge and Experience 30%
Quality of Tender 20%
Costing 10%
Timeframe
The closing date for receipt of proposals is 12th July 2026.
Shortlisted candidates will be notified by 16th July with interviews held online week ending 24th July.
It is envisaged that this work will commence in August 2026 and the final report will be delivered by late Autumn 2026.
For further information
Please contact the IHF Research Team – research@hospicefoundation.ieor Avril Easton Advocacy and Policy Manager – avril.easton@hospicefoundation.ie- for further information or if you have any queries in relation to this tender proposal.
[1] Advance Healthcare Directive INTERACTIVE FINAL.pdf
[2] Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, Section 84