I am old enough to be called “one of the pioneers of palliative care” but serious amnesia has not yet set in (so far as I remember)! I can recall much from those pioneering days, including the hours spent trying to devise comprehensive definitions so that, as we told each other “people will come to… Continue reading
I have been on the phone for the past hour to a journalist writing an article on Death Cafés and the movement to get people talking about death. Is this, she asked, because death in our society is repressed? Is there a taboo against talking about it? “No,” I answered, “if we need to talk… Continue reading
By the late nineteenth century, the people of Europe and North America were living longer and in societies of rapidly increasing size. A transformation of unprecedented proportions had brought industrialisation, urbanisation, geographic mobility, the rise of scientific rationalities, political and ideological upheaval, and a growing questioning of religious values. The population of Europe had doubled… Continue reading
A striking feature of Cicely Saunders’ early work was its articulation of the relationship between physical and mental suffering. This reached full expression with the concept of ‘total pain’, which was taken to include physical symptoms, mental distress, social problems and emotional difficulties. The idea was launched on the world exactly 50 years ago, in… Continue reading
To paraphrase the Beatles, it was 20 years ago this summer that a remarkable group of clinicians, academics and activists got together under the patronage of the billionaire philanthropist, George Soros, to create an initiative with the disarming goal of transforming the culture of dying – in a society that is perhaps more death… Continue reading
The UK welfare state upon its creation in 1948 sought to vouchsafe care ‘from the cradle to the grave’, yet the early years of the National Health Service saw little attention to care at the end of life and focused instead on addressing the widespread acute and chronic health problems of a society grappling with… Continue reading
Modern day pain specialists continue to be fascinated by the actions and interactions of particular drugs in specific combinations. As the art and science of such work progresses it is worth reminding ourselves of practices and assumptions that prevailed in the not too distant past – and how quickly these could change. In this respect,… Continue reading
Modern activists in palliative and end of life care work increasingly in a global context, where international links and collaborations have been become a regular feature of day to day activity. But it was not always the case. The early pioneers lived in an era before the internet and instant electronic communication. It is interesting… Continue reading
