Dying Matters Awareness Week 2024
In this modern world, we talk about our feelings more and more. Opening up to friends about our everyday challenges is no longer seen as a weakness but as a strength. Conversations around mental health are encouraged, and what was once taboo is often now seen as the norm. The subject of death, however, remains one that we struggle with. This year, Dying Matters Awareness Week takes place 6th – 12th May and the focus is on how we talk about dying matters – the language that we use, and conversations we have around death and dying; specifically between healthcare professionals and patients, their carers and their families.
If someone we know loses a loved one, it is often hard to know what to say or do in the moment. As the person suffering the loss, we can suddenly feel alone in more ways than one as people who would once say hello would now do anything to stop themselves catching your eye for fear of feeling awkward. Likewise, if we hear that a new friend has lost someone in the past, we have a tendency to avoid the subject rather than directly ask what happened. We assume that they don’t want to be reminded of it rather than allow them the space to confide in us about their grief.
Every year, Dying Matters Awareness Week challenges this status quo, as it asks us to openly talk about death. There is no prescription for how to do this as all communities are encouraged to express themselves in whatever way, shape, or form works for them. The common theme, however, is always that opening up the conversation is never as difficult as you might think.
At the Hospice, death is part of our everyday life. We don’t shy away from it and know what a difference it makes to people and their families knowing that we are here to support them. Be it a nurse, a doctor, a counsellor, or part of the support or admin team, we are all in the roles we are because people are dying. It is the one common direction people are all heading towards in our lifetime. And as such, the taboo that surrounds death needs to be eliminated. In doing so, we can open up a space for the normality of grief to be expressed as we support one another.
Click here to find out about the counselling service at the Hospice