Another Day in Paradise and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Two Prompts for Contemplating Death as an 11-Year Old Child

Published on: Author: Naomi Richards Leave a comment

The first half of this blog was written by Simon Dewhurst, who works in the facilities team at the School of Social and Environmental Sustainability. The second half is written by Dr Marian Krawczyk, Lecturer and programme lead for the End of Life Studies PGCert/PGDip/MSc. The genesis of the blog was a serendipitous conversation between… Continue reading

New Digital Story for Dying in the Margins: Frank’s Story

Published on: Author: samquinn Leave a comment

To coincide with the display of the ‘Cost of Dying’ exhibition at the Scottish Parliament (14th – 16th November 2023), we present our final digital story; “Frank’s Story”. Key themes in Frank’s story are the physical inaccessibility of the home affecting care provision, financial struggles in caring for a terminally ill family member, and the… Continue reading

Dying in the Margins: Joost ten Wolde on his wife Stacey O’Brien’s end of life experiences

Published on: Author: samquinn 1 Comment
Stacey sits on her bed looking towards the camera.

This blog is written by Joost ten Wolde My wife, Stacey O’Brien, had a TP53 genetic fault; a condition which increases a person’s risk of getting cancer by almost 100%. This gene is linked to many different kinds of cancers. Stacey had cancer nine times in total: sarcoma in the leg, breast, lymph nodes, back,… Continue reading

Dying in the Margins – Reflections

Published on: Author: Naomi Richards 1 Comment

The ESRC-funded Dying in the Margins study officially ended this week after 4 years (31st August 2023). Below are some of our reflections on this complex study. The various impacts of the work are still unfolding as Marie Curie continue to press for legislative changes at Holyrood and Westminster, and as we begin to take the… Continue reading

The Financial Impact of Paying for a Funeral: Call for Research Participants

Published on: Author: Naomi Richards Leave a comment

Blog by Ruth Bickerton, PhD Candidate in Human Geography at the University of Dundee Almost one in five people organising a funeral in the UK have notable financial concerns about paying for it[1]. This means that over 126,000 funerals each year cause real financial problems[2]. Funerals can cost on average in the region of £4,000 for… Continue reading

The ‘P’ Word. Difficulties Talking about Poverty at the End of Life

Published on: Author: samquinn Leave a comment
Front cover of the Money Matters at the end of life resource.

The aim of the Dying in the Margins research project has been to explore how socio-economic circumstances shape end-of-life experiences. Open conversations about financial hardship are important, and increasingly so in the context of rising poverty rates due to inflation and the cost of living crisis. Yet, throughout our study, we observed that there can… Continue reading

Lone dying in hospitals – Development of a student project: an interview with Carla Brooke, CNS

Published on: Author: Marian Krawczyk 2 Comments

The following is an edited transcript of a conversation between Dr Marian Krawczyk and Carla Booke, CNS who is an MSc student in the End of the Life Studies Programme at the University of Glasgow and is currently conducting research for her final dissertation project. You can find out more about her experiences in the… Continue reading

Connecting total pain and the gut microbiome

Published on: Author: Marian Krawczyk Leave a comment

“Total pain” is the term used within hospice, palliative, and end-of-life care to describe pain which is complex and overwhelming, and which encompasses physical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions. It is an attempt to encapsulate experiences of suffering that are unique to advancing life-limiting illness, the end of life, and dying. The term was first… Continue reading