Dying Matters Awareness Week 2022

Discussing death and dying is hard. For many of us, something to be put off to another, hopefully distant, day. But for families with loved ones facing life-limiting illness, delay is not the answer.

To help families tackle this toughest of topics, Rennie Grove is joining Hospice UK’s annual Dying Matters Awareness Week in early May.

As part of the programme, we’ll be suggesting a topic for conversation each day on our social platforms.

Clinical content manager, Christina Jones, is clear about the aims. “Each topic is designed to encourage people to start thinking and talking about dying. And each conversation starter goes to the heart of the work we do with families affecting by life-limiting illness. We want everyone to be in a good place when they die – whatever that means for them.”

Over the week topics will include making a Will, organ donation, digital legacies and discussions about how people would like to spend their final days.

“By talking and sharing we can remove the taboo and stigma that surrounds death and dying,” says Christina. “After all it’s the one certainty we all face in life and we know from experience that planning for it as much as we can makes such a difference.”

As part of the awareness week Rennie Grove will be promoting Hospice UK’s online “planning ahead” programme which covers key considerations around end-of-life care wishes and the chance to document preferred choices.

Christina points to the wider benefits of talking about death and dying. “We know that, very sadly, people are dying without the support they need. By talking and sharing we can better understand what’s happening in our communities and tell political and healthcare leaders what’s needed to make high quality end-of-life care accessible to everyone.”

Follow Rennie Grove on social media to join the conversation about why dying matters.