Advance Planning

Last Days program launched.

HammondCare's Last Days Program.

Last Days, a HammondCare program designed to help people with “knowledge and tools to navigate a person’s last days”was launched in February and is now taking registrations from people in the community. Last Days provides “practical and effective education to improve knowledge and confidence for those caring for someone in … Read more

National Advance Care Planning Week – 20-26 March.

Advance Care Planning Week

Your Advance Care plan tells people what your wishes for your medical care are, when you can no longer speak for yourself. An Advance Care Directive is the formalised version of your plan. Advance Care Planning Australia is holding events across Australia during Advance Care Planning Week. Get more information. … Read more

Improving palliative care in nursing homes.

Kathleen Wurth blogged at Caresearch recently.

This article was updated on March 11, 2023. It discusses death and palliative care in nursing homes. We’re still hearing uncomfortable stories from readers about the deaths of their elderly in nursing homes. Sometimes only a little thing went wrong, making the family sad for the dying person, and undoing … Read more

Christine Pedley reflects on a final farewell and ‘doing death well’.

Christine Pedley

This article was updated on March 9, 2023. It discusses a final farewell. Today we’d simply like to share a lovely, very real story by our LinkedIn connection Christine Pedley who lives at Ferntree Gully,  Victoria. Christine has been an authorised marriage celebrant for 11 years.  She “co-creates ceremonies that … Read more

Tree Burials, Sea Burials and Green Burials

Connecting-to-a-loved-one-through-growing-a-tree-can-be-a-comforting-and-joyous-experience

by Sandra Moon. This article was updated 7 November, 2022. It features sustainable burials. As a child I was intrigued by a Native American tradition of placing their deceased on a platform in a tree. It seemed so natural to me to decompose through exposure to the sun, rain and … Read more

Is the place I want to be cared for the place where I want to die?

Dr Katrin Gerber

This article was updated on 2 September, 2022. It discusses preferences of places to die. The work of Dr Katrin Gerber has caught our eye. This is because whenever the question comes up about choosing where someone wants to die, it can be hard to gauge accurately, and Katrin has … Read more

‘Capturing kindness’ through funeral photography.

Photo by John Slaytor, the funeral photographer._DSC6374

This article was updated on 31 August, 2022. It features a funeral photographer capturing kindness. As Good Grief! roams, peeping in quiet corners, delving into resources from country to country and looking at new and old ways of doing death, this one has popped up, right on our doorstep, only … Read more

Advance care planning and dementia patients.

The ELDAC Legal toolkit

This article on advance care planning and dementia patients was updated on 23 August, 2022. A patient who doesn’t have legal capacity because of dementia, even the early signs of it, can’t sign documents such as wills and the assigning of their power of attorney. But what about their advance … Read more

Choosing the executor of your will.

Ambre Langdown of ACL Law, Sanctuary Cove.

This article on choosing the executor of your will was updated on 19 August, 2022. Choosing the executor of your will is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. But what does an executor actually have to do? Who makes a good executor? And what do you … Read more

Where will I be buried?

Do you want to be buried where you live now or the place where you came from?

‘Where will I be buried?’ was updated on August 12, 2022. This issue may seem odd to some – but to others it’s very important. In Australia the final resting place has deep significance for Aboriginal people. But I knew a non-Indigenous woman who was troubled by not knowing where … Read more

Death doulas are becoming increasingly popular in Australia – so what exactly do they do?

Interest in death doulas grows

Death doulas are becoming increasingly popular in Australia – so what exactly do death doulas do? Because theirs is only an emerging field, roles and what we can expect from people who define themselves as ‘death doulas’ can vary. But what is becoming increasingly clear is that more and more … Read more

More questions than ever about advance care directives.

Who-speaks-for-us-when-we-cant-speak-for-ourselves

This article on advance care directives has been updated on August 5, 2022. Advance care directives are evolving – and there’s so much more to know beyond the usual questions of “Do I need to have an advanced care directive?” and “Who needs to know about it?” For example how … Read more

How was palliative care left out of this?

Avril Jackson - information officer for the European Association of Palliative Care, photo via LinkedIn

This article was updated 3 August, 2022. Palliative care advocates, this one’s for you, as a new palliative care community of practice has been announced by NSW Health. And what’s better, they are calling for participants for their palliative care community of practice. This is incredibly important work as Covid … Read more

If someone witnesses my will being signed by Skype, is that valid?

If someone witnesses my will being signed by Skype, is that valid?

This article was updated on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. If someone witnesses my will being signed by Skype, is that valid? Yes, to witness a will via technology is now valid. Video conferencing technology like Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime and Zoom can now be used in NSW in the witnessing of … Read more

Tender Funerals – a shout out for their ‘Community undertaking’.

'We're shouting out about 'A community undertaking' - the identical twins

We’re shouting out about ‘A Community Undertaking’, featuring a great innovation in funerals on ABC’s Australian Story tomorrow night. One of our first discoveries when we started Good Grief! was Tender Funerals of Port Kembla. It’s raw, rich and true to community. And this refreshing way of managing funerals is … Read more

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