Have a Chocolate and Let's Talk About Death
On Saturday 21st May I met three enthusiastic women connected to the NHS and Marie Curie Cancer Care, who had volunteered to spend time at Tesco in Yeovil handing out free chocolates and leaflets to passers-by. Why?
They were there to talk about Death. The real Final Frontier; the Omega time. Why? To address something which should be obvious, but isn't. Something we all have to face, but so many prefer not to, often with unhappy results.
For a start public surveys show over 60 per cent of people in the UK would choose to die at home, surrounded by their family and friends, if they were terminally ill. However, across Somerset, only one in five people currently die at home.
The point is we are all living longer and will probably last way beyond pensionable age. Centenarians are a rapidly increasing group, but that won't be an option for all of us, however good the NHS and our health seems. But there are now more choices than ever to ensure you can have a dignified and 'good death', when your time comes.
"Would you like a chocolate? It's free, honest. And why am I handing them out? Well, we are from the NHS and Marie Curie Hospice Care."
It was a simple but effective ice breaker to start a conversation and it worked pretty well. Some just pushed past, eager to get the latest special offer, but others chomped on the choc and started reading, or launched straight into conversation.
So what sort of issues were the health advisors trying to get across? Have you put your affairs in order and have you made a will? Not doing so can cause misery and expense for those who mean most to you. Would you like to die at home, in hospital or in a hospice? There are many more choices available to people in Somerset. How long would you like the doctors to keep treating you? Have you planned your funeral arrangements? What frightens or worries you most about being ill and dying?
There were also topics such as how to write an "advance decision" or living will giving you a legal right to refuse certain treatments and appointing someone to make decisions for you, giving Lasting Power of Attorney.
Quite a list, and all important points. Made me think. I still have quite a bit more to do even if I have written a will and drawn up an "advance decision."
Talking to Alison Evans afterwards she told me the day had gone really well and they had met and spoken to a good flow of people. They were surprised how many told them they were having to cope with the grief of losing someone they loved - not quite what they had expected to talk about - which was how people came to think about their own death and made plans for it.
Alison told me she had been a Marie Curie Palliative Care Nurse for years and is now the Operations Manager for the NHS and Marie Curie Somerset Delivering Choice Programme.
The programme has been developed to improve local care and support services to people with terminal illness and provide more choice to be cared for at home when nearing the end of their lives.
Julie White works for the Nursing and Patient Safety Team with Somerset Primary Care Trust. She has been responsible for contacting the county's 76 GP practices, including Wincanton, and has been getting their full support to the 'choice' programme so they can highlight the options available for their patients.
The programme aims to place vulnerable people on an End of Life Register in order to make sure they are properly assessed, consulted and provided with a carefully co-ordinated care plan. Why? To make sure that the process of dying is not left to chance, with one health professional not knowing what another is doing but instead aiming to make sure that high quality care and support is provided by a team of the right people acting at the right time. This ambitious programme is now being rolled out and once adopted should make a real difference to the person dying and to their families. It should also reduce the incidence of inappropriate and wasteful treatments.
The third member of the group was Angela Stafford. She is a highly experienced hospice nurse with a vitally important role helping nurses prepare for what is a very demanding, but also fulfilling role. The photos feature Angela and Alison with a leaflet for children.
So why were these three health advisors giving up their Saturday to talk to busy shoppers? The occasion was the second Dying Matters Awareness Week. This was organised across the country by the National Council for Palliative Care who can be contacted on Freephone 08000 21 44 66. They also have a very useful website and if you would like to download the leaflets they were handing out, go to the Dying Matters website.
Alternatively there is comprehensive information about local services from the Somerset End of Life Care website.
So what do you think? Is death a private matter and not a conversational topic? Is there such a thing as a 'good death' and if you had a relative with terminal illness would you welcome some advice from Marie Curie Cancer Care or NHS nurses with the Choice Programme?
John Baxter
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Reply #1 on : Tue June 14, 2011, 09:11:00
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