Four months ago our organisation, the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC) created a space on the web where anyone could post a brief message of remembrance about dead loved ones who remain important to them. Little by little, day by day, non-virally, that space has grown into a powerful reminder of the diversity and… Continue reading
This post is written from Scotland, to celebrate World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2014. My purpose is to highlight the need for services for frail older people as they face the end of their lives. I think few of us are aware that the over 80-year age group is currently the only part of… Continue reading
This summer the Scottish campaign, Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief, which works to make Scotland a place where there is more openness about death, dying and bereavement, has partnered with the world renowened Edinburgh Fringe Festival to launch its own programe of shows – Death on the Fringe. What better place to encourage debate… Continue reading
I am delighted to report that Dr Derek Doyle received the award of Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Glasgow at a graduation ceremony on our Dumfries Campus, on 9 July. The award was made by the University Chancellor, Professor Sir Kenneth Calman. It was a special moment for the two of them,… Continue reading
Billy Connolly’s Big Send Off has done a lot to raise public interest in funerals, rituals and memorials of various kinds, and has touched and amused us in the process. The recent and hugely successful Dying Matters awareness week – You Only Die Once (#YODO) – has also drawn attention to end of life care needs across… Continue reading
Some time ago a colleague of mine in Ireland, Eugene Murray, then CEO of the Irish Hospice Foundation, raised the idea of whether it was possible to work out what proportion of people in hospital at any one time are in the last year of life. Knowing the figure, he argued, would assist in advocacy… Continue reading
Terminal illness, dying and death are often difficult words to hear and they can fill a lot of people with fear. Yet mortality is an inescapable part of life. So, why is it that so many of us are afraid to talk about it? This month Marie Curie has published a report, Difficult conversations with… Continue reading
