Hospice UK’s annual Dying Matters Awareness Week invites people across the country to get talking about around death, dying and grief. This year’s theme is Dying Matters at work – highlighting the importance of fostering an open approach to talking about death in the workplace.
This year, alongside Peace Hospice Care, we are running ‘Dying Matters Cafes’ at our combined five sites. These sessions are facilitated by members of our Senior Clinical Team, and are designed to give all colleagues a clearer insight into what Advance Care Planning is and why it is important, and, to encourage open discussion about death and wishes by considering and discussing three key questions:
- What things are most important to me about my future care?
- What kind of funeral would I like?
- How would I like to be remembered?
Discussing the importance of talking about death and wishes, Jackie Tritton, Chief Clinical Officer at Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care, said:
“Supporting patients, and their families, to have open conversations about death and wishes for end of life, and helping them to look ahead and decide what they want to happen, is an important part of the support we provide, and is deeply embedded into the ethos of hospice care.
For a lot of people, it is a scary conversation to have and people naturally shy away from it. However, we know that those who discuss and record their choices may live a better quality of life, according to their wishes, which can also lessen the stress on relatives and friends. Sitting down and thinking about these things, as early as possible, can provide a lot of peace and comfort, and enable the person to continue living the rest of their life, however long that may be, feeling prepared for what’s to come.
I am delighted to offer this series of conversation-starting sessions to our staff members during Dying Matters Week – as hospices we must be leading proponents of the destigmatising of talking about death and wishes for end of life, and therefore it is important to continue to embed this culture however we can.”
Resources want to find out more?
https://www.hospiceuk.org/our-campaigns/dying-matters