I spoke to Suzan last week. Hers is a disturbing but common story. I’m going to talk to palliative carers about what went wrong and report back on how to avoid this happening to you. When Suzan’s brother Frank was dying of a rare brain disease he was in an … Read more
Patient advocate Dorothy Kamaker reports this note from the coalface in her advocacy work. “Deirdre wanted her 93-year-old mother Helen to be allowed to die. Helen had been three weeks in hospital with a terminal illness and was being “tortured” by futile treatments with no hope of recovery. For Deirdre, … Read more
Just the sort of conversation we need: thought provoking discussion over a cup of tea. The program looks great and the speakers inspiring. North Sydney Council continues to provide community events (in Covid-19 safe times). In Conversations – Death and Dying The North Sydney Community Centre also hosted these great … Read more
Gavin worked in the music industry for a long time – so music has a special significance to him – and he knew it did for his mother-in-law Dorothy, who as a young woman had strong connections with the theatre. But unfortunately, the family didn’t get the chance to talk … Read more
What a wonderful idea! The Reflected Legacy project with artist Flutter Lyon has been started to bring comfort, support and creativity to the Palliative Care Ward at Liverpool Hospital,Sydney. The goal is to transform a grey hospital ward with colour and conversation, and capture the life stories of people who … Read more
The Conversation Project is dedicated to helping people talk about their wishes for end-of-life care. Statistics show that everything Ellen Goodman says about the American experience is the same in Australia. That is, we have the same gap between the death people say they want and the death they have. … Read more
When someone dies who needs to be told? It can be hard to work this out, especially when you are grieving. It may not feel necessary and it may be the last thing on your mind. But letting the appropriate people know will stop them from sending unnecessary mail and … Read more
Heather Wiseman interviews Jeanette Lacey for Palliative Care Australia. “In my experience, about 85 per cent of Intensive Care Unit patients who had chronic and complex health conditions had never considered that they might be terminal in nature. Often it was only when they came to intensive care with an … Read more
Dying To Know Day is an annual day of action dedicated to bringing to life conversations and community actions around death, dying and bereavement. D2KDay launched in 2013 and has seen 285 events and has sparked thousands of conversations about death, dying and bereavement. Go to the Dying To … Read more
~~~ “About 70% of Australians have specific wishes about their end of life care but very few get to put these into practice” says Independent Patient Supporter & Advocate, Dorothy Kamaker. “In the United States it’s estimated that between 25 to 30 per cent of people achieve these wishes but … Read more