Dr Thomas J Lynch of Johns Hopkins University asks whether at the ‘end’ there is any ‘point’? I left the North-West of England for the Eastern Seaboard of the United States of America almost 18 months ago to take a position at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Since my arrival in the USA, I have… Continue reading
Our University of Glasgow study team, supported by a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award, is examining how responses to end of life issues are developing around the world, and with what consequences. Death, dying and bereavement are topics that mainly sit on the margins of the humanities and social sciences. Whilst end of life care attracts… Continue reading
The 1970s and 1980s saw palliative care services starting all over Britain – hospices and NHS ‘continuing care units’, day units, home care services, hospital consultation services, ‘hospice at home’. Those were undeniably exciting times but they brought many problems and challenges. Where were the trained staff? There were no plans or policies in place… Continue reading
Studying end of life care in the global context poses particular challenges due to the diversity of cultural meanings and expectations surrounding death and dying in different global settings. With culturally specific ideas of the ‘good death’ and ‘bad death’, ‘end of life’ becomes a fascinating topic for me as an anthropologist. In a palliative… Continue reading
The Scottish Government Palliative and End of Life Stakeholders Group had its first meeting in Glasgow on the 24th of March 2015, organised by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. The purpose of this group is to contribute to and inform the ongoing development of the development of a national Strategic Framework for Action for… Continue reading
Melanie Reid is an enormously respected journalist who writes a much-followed piece in The Times every Saturday. ‘Spinal column’ is her weekly set of reflections on life and the wider world – seen from the perspective of a person who is now tetrapelgic following a riding accident. Imagine then, the pleasure of reading her brilliant piece for… Continue reading
I have just attended for the first time the annual meeting of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, held jointly with the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association. The venue was Philadelphia – the city of brotherly love – and over 3,000 people attended, mainly from the USA, but with small numbers from some… Continue reading
The more we contemplate the end of life care needs of different countries around the world, the more I become convinced of the need for fresh bold thinking. So it was a pleasure to see the work of the Commission on Residential Care, supported by the admirable Demos group, which reported last autumn on its… Continue reading
