{"id":1408,"date":"2022-05-04T07:59:24","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T07:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/perc\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2023-03-16T11:10:20","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T11:10:20","slug":"dying-matters-week-ensuring-you-and-your-loved-ones-are-inagoodplace-at-the-end-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/perc\/2022\/05\/04\/dying-matters-week-ensuring-you-and-your-loved-ones-are-inagoodplace-at-the-end-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Dying Matters Week: Ensuring you and your loved ones are #InAGoodPlace at the end of life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This week we are highlighting an important cause – Dying Matters Awareness Week<\/strong><\/a>. Dying Matters is a campaign run by Hospice UK that aims to get us talking more openly about death, dying and bereavement. The focus of this year’s awareness week is on what it means to be #InAGoodPlace<\/em><\/strong> when we die. To be in a good place at the end life involves having your physical, emotional, financial and spiritual needs met and getting the right care and support. We can only achieve this if we get people thinking about, and talking through, their wishes for end of life care. \"\"<\/p>\n

Why is it important to plan for the end of life? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Many people still consider death and dying to be taboo and avoid conversations about these subjects. However, there are a number of decisions that need to be made towards the end of life including how and where you want to be cared for if you become unwell, where you want to be when you die and funeral plans. Everyone is different, so the answer to these questions is individual to you and needs to be discussed with your loved ones and healthcare professionals. Common themes in the research around what makes a \u2018good death\u2019 is that people want to ease their symptoms (such as pain and breathlessness), to be treated with dignity and have a sense of control over the process of dying (Krikorian, Maldonado & Pastrana, 2020). When asked about care towards the end of life people tend to value quality of life rather than treatment aimed at extending their lives (Higginson et al., 2014).<\/p>\n

But how do you plan for t<\/strong>he end of life? <\/strong><\/p>\n

This is where \u2018advance care planning\u2019 comes in, this offers people an opportunity to talk through and document their wishes for future care and treatment while they are well enough to make decisions. These discussions are often guided by a simple question, \u2018What matters to you?\u2019. In his book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, the writer and doctor Atul Gawande speaks to a man who has a simple answer to this question \u2013 he says his life would continue to be meaningful and enjoyable as long as he could watch football and eat chocolate ice cream! (Gawande., 2014).<\/p>\n