When we think about health care, we think about making patients better. But what about those who are preparing for their final days? Dying, death and bereavement are topics that are uncomfortable for many – but they shouldn’t be. Dying Matters Week (14-20 May) raises awareness of the importance of speaking openly about dying and the impact these discussions have on improving end of life care.
By changing the culture surrounding conversations about death we can allow everybody to have some control over the circumstances of their own, ensuring that it is personalised for the patient and the ones they leave behind. This week our End of Life Care Facilitator, Victoria Dixon has been hosting conversations and training sessions to encourage these essential conversations.
Victoria delivered a talk with Pendle Seniors’ Group to highlight the value of advance care planning. Advance care planning is done by the patient at a time when they are not too unwell. This is essential as a patient may lose capacity or become too tired to make choices. Plans cover anything personal that will impact on the time they have left or the bereavement process for friends and families. Talking about these plans early helps us to make sure these wishes are fulfilled. Perhaps a patient doesn’t want to be admitted to hospital, or they want to see a long lost relative or have a certain song at their funeral.
“Early conversations about advance care planning is one of the biggest challenges as most people avoiding speaking about their end of life care until it is absolutely relevant to them and unfortunately this is often too late,” said Victoria Dixon.
During a question and answer session, guests were asked to reflect on the end of life care their loved ones had received and to suggest how this experience could have been better. The two common areas for development were communication and recognising a dying patient.
Those involved with the care of a dying patient should be able to communicate effectively with families. These conversations can be tough but it is essential that staff can be open and honest with the patient and those important to them..
It was also noted that the ability to recognise that a patient is declining needs to be improved. Quality Improvement initiatives are already in motion to provide training to staff so that advance care planning for end of life care can be effectively put into place.
On Thursday Victoria will be at Asda in Burnley to speak to the public about Dying Matters Week. The event will feature a tree of life graphic on which members of the public can post notes about improving services relating to death and dying.