Time to talk about dying

08 May, 2013

Health, social care and voluntary organisations in Hull and the East Riding are working together to spread the word about the importance of talking about dying. Angie Orr, Modern Matron for End of Life Care at City Health Care Partnership CIC (CHCP CIC) will be attending an event at the Carers Information and Support Service in King Edward Street, Hull on Wednesday 15 May from 10am to 3pm. This is part of Dying Matters Awareness Week, which has been organised by the Dying Matters Coalition to encourage people to talk openly about dying, death and bereavement. Throughout Dying Matters Awareness Week, events and activities are being held up and down the country to raise awareness about end of life issues.

The theme of Dying Matters Awareness Week 2013 is ‘Be ready for it’, a call to action aimed at encouraging members of the public to take five simple steps to make their end of life experience better, both for them and for their loved ones.

The five steps are: 1. Make a will • 2. Record your funeral wishes • 3. Plan your future care and support • 4. Register as an organ donor • 5. Tell your loved ones your wishes.

Angie Orr said, ‘It’s vital that everyone gets used to talking about death and dying, so that as far as possible people can have the death they want and can let their loved ones know their wishes. We are holding this event so that people can just pop in, have a chat and find out more about getting ready for dying, to make it better for themselves and those who love them.’

There are 30,000 member organisations of the national Dying Matters Coalition, all of whom have an interest in supporting the changing knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards dying, death and bereavement. Members include organisations from the health and care sectors, community groups, social care and housing, faith groups, the legal profession and the funeral sector.

Set up by the National Council for Palliative Care in 2009, (NCPC) the Dying Matters Coalition aims to encourage people to talk about their own end of life issues with friends, family and loved ones in order to make ‘a good death’ possible for the 500,000 people who die in England each year.

Research for Dying Matters has found that many people have specific wishes about their end of life care or what they would like to happen to them after their death, but a reluctance to discuss these issues makes it much less likely that these will be met. There is a major mismatch between people’s preferences for where they would like to die and their actual place of death: 70% of people would prefer to die at home but more than half currently die in hospital.

Eve Richardson, Chief Executive of the Dying Matters Coalition and the National Council for Palliative Care said, ‘Every minute someone in England dies, but many people still feel uncomfortable talking about end of life issues. Talking about dying, death and bereavement is in everyone’s interests as it can help ensure that all of us can get the care and support we want, where we want it, at the end of our lives.

‘Through being more confident in talking about dying and taking the five steps we are promoting during Dying Matters Awareness Week to plan for the future, we can make a big difference.’

For further information on the Dying Matters Coalition or events during Dying Matters Awareness Week, please call freephone 08000 214466 or email info@dyingmatters.org, or visit the website at www.dyingmatters.org