As part of its commitment to encourage people to be more at ease with death, dying and bereavement, Mountbatten is again supporting Dying Matters awareness week with the launch of a new podcast (13th-19th May 2019).
Each year, the national campaign challenges us to take charge of our futures and face up to death and bereavement. In 2019, the question “are we ready?” is being asked.
Nigel Hartley, Mountbatten Chief Executive, said:
“It’s a fact that 100% of people on the Isle of Wight will die. Yet so very few of us ever prepare for, or even talk about, death or dying. However, there is evidence that people who have the confidence to talk openly about death and dying often have a better experience when the time comes. Certainly, their friends and families are more prepared and can help ensure their loved ones’ wishes and preferences are met, as best as possible.”
To highlight this year’s awareness week, a series of short podcasts has been recorded featuring a thought for each day of the campaign about hospice care, planning ahead and the need to talk about death and dying. In each clip, Nigel Hartley shares some of his experiences of working for 30 years in the hospice sector and explains why it’s important that people prepare for the end of life.
The topics covered in each podcast are:
- What is a hospice and why we should challenge the community about the language we use to describe death and dying?
- How families can support people who are dying and why isolation is often a factor at the end of life
- Why we need to talk about death and how planning ahead can mean there’s more time to talk about things that really matter when someone dies
- What dying in the UK is like today and how people are now dying over a period of years, rather than in days and months
- What the future of hospice care looks like and how our work in people’s homes continues to grow
- Can death ever be a good experience?
- What is the best way to prepare for death and should there be a national requirement for everyone to have the conversation to prepare for the end of life?
The podcasts will be shared each day on Mountbatten’s Facebook and Twitter accounts @MountbattenIW, and will also be available at www.mountbatten.org.uk
Additionally, Mountbatten is using the week to raise further awareness the Mountbatten Advance Care plan, a document which records your wishes and preferences for the care you would wish to receive if you suddenly became very unwell or had a serious accident and could no longer speak for yourself.
Advance care planning can be done whether you are in good health or not.
Jane Garner, Mountbatten’s Advance Care Plan facilitator said:
“Although planning is a normal part of life, planning ahead for illness, dying and death might seem a very difficult topic to think about. You may find other people are resistant to the idea, feeling it is not the right time, too upsetting or ‘morbid’.
“However, planning ahead in this way can be very positive and empowering; an Advance Care Plan can help to ensure that you continue to have an influence over decisions that may need to be made about your care and treatment, even if you cannot speak up for yourself. Additionally, your family or carers will be spared from having to guess what you would have wanted and can speak up with confidence on your behalf”.
The Mountbatten Advance Care Plan can be downloaded from Mountbatten’s website www.mountbatten.org.uk or a copy can be picked up from Mountbatten Hospice or Mountbatten’s 10 shops around the Isle of Wight.
