Access to quick and sufficient financial support can mean the difference between a dignified end-of-life and significant hardship for terminally ill people. However, recent UK government welfare reforms propose big changes to disability benefits, notably Personal Independence Payment (PIP), with tougher rules aimed at reducing welfare spending by around £5 billion annually by 2030. But… Continue reading
What actually happens at a Death Café? What do people talk about? And why do attendees appear to find talking about death so … enjoyable?! Over the course of my doctoral studies with the Glasgow End of Life Studies Group (2017-21) I attended 20 Death Cafes across the UK, studying people’s interactions and interviewing attendees… Continue reading
How are the stories we tell about assisted dying used in policymaking and legal decisions? I currently work as part of the Assisted Lab project at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, which tries to understand how and why certain stories about assisted dying are mentioned or used as evidence during the law-making process. Funded… Continue reading
A blog by Michael Hannah and Stella McCulloch Each year in May, Good Life Good Death Good Grief co-ordinates activities across Scotland as part of Demystifying Death Week. It’s all about giving people knowledge, skills and opportunities to plan and support each other through death, dying, loss and care. As such it represents a significant… Continue reading
The proposed Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults [Scotland] Bill launched on Thursday 28th March 2024. The Bill proposes allowing terminally ill people over the age of 16 the right to request lethal medication from a doctor which they would self-administer to bring an immediate end to their own life at a time and place of their choosing.… Continue reading
This article was written by Naomi Richards in collaboration with Aileen Morton, Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer for Hospice UK in Scotland. In early 2024, as the hospice sector in Scotland grappled with the prospect of another parliamentary vote on whether or not to legalise assisted dying, I was invited by Hospice UK to facilitate… Continue reading
How many times have you used or seen the term “loved one” this week? If you work in healthcare or the service sector, there’s a good chance it is quite a few. Have you ever stopped to think what is meant by it, its limitations or if you use it how it might be received?… Continue reading
In March 2024, the summative findings paper for the ESRC-funded ‘Dying in the Margins’ study was published in Social Science & Medicine – Qualitative Research in Health. Our visual methods study shed light on the challenges of home dying in the context of financial hardship and deprivation in the UK. Utilising photovoice, professional documentary photography… Continue reading
