Dying Matters Week – 02 to 06 May: Talking about dying

May 12th, 2022 Posted in Blog
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Monday, 02 May 2022 – Friday, 06 May 2022 is Dying Matters Week. This blog will focus on how we can talk about dying and the benefits it can have if you do talk about it.

For many, dying is a subject that they would rather ignore. Denial is a powerful defence mechanism as we all know that death is inevitable. Talking about dying can help us to think about the life we want for the remainder of time we have left.

Having well-managed conversations about dying, and gently facing the concept of our own mortality now can enhance our lives and help us to live better in many ways.

It can:

  • encourage us to re-evaluate what is important so that we live in accordance with our core values;
  • help us to consider how we want the rest of our lives to be and the legacy we will leave behind;
  • help us develop a better work-life balance;
  • help us cherish the ones we love;
  • and help us to spend time thinking about our spiritual beliefs and what will make us feel most fulfilled.

Dame Cicely Saunders, who founded modern Hospice care philosophy, went further to suggest our death should be an “intensely personal achievement for the individual”, something which is seen not as a defeat, but as something we can achieve and make our own.

A major role of modern Hospice care is to help people talk about what matters to them in life as an individual, which will help us live a good life now and put the preparatory steps in place to ensure we have a good death.

If you would like to talk with somebody about making plans or would like some support, please contact our Living Well Centre on 023 9224 8011.

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