Event Aims to Start a Conversation on End of Life Care
Wednesday, 20 January 2016
An event focussed on end of life care, taking place next month at The Hive, is hoping to start a conversation on one of the most difficult topics for people to talk about.
It comes as the British Medical Association published a report into palliative care, calling for doctors to receive specialist training on how to tell patients they have a terminal illness.
The report found that "without exception, doctors did not find it easy to discuss dying and death with their patients."
The Palliative Care Event at The Hive will take place on Thursday, February 4 and will look at the work of local adult hospices, children's hospices, future planning and where to go for help and information.
It has been organised in conjunction with the ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥'s Centre for Palliative Care Research, which is run in partnership with St Richard's. It will involve various speakers from the NHS and other hospices and is aimed at demystifying what care for life-limiting illnesses involves.
Natasha Skeen, a spokesperson for the event, said: "This event will dispel the gloomy idea that palliative care is about people waiting to die but actually is about helping people to live with an illness."
The event is for the general public, students, those who might become carers or are carers, people who have just been diagnosed with a life limiting illness and those who are just curious to know more.
"It's aimed at starting a conversation about a subject that the British feel uncomfortable having, but one that affects us all," Natasha added.