Dying Matters is a campaign led by Hospice UK. The mission is to promote awareness and support changing knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards dying, death and bereavement, and through this to make a ‘good death’ the norm.
Working together, Dying Matters are encouraging people to talk about their wishes towards the end of their lives, including where they want to die and their funeral plans with friends, family and loved ones.
This year, the week will focus on the importance of being in a good place to die.
Where people die is changing. More people than ever are dying at home in recent years, and the pandemic has seen this number leap by tens of thousands. There is very little evidence about the quality of these deaths, and whether the right care and support was in place. There is no right or wrong place to die; it will be different for everyone. But it is important for families to think about it, to talk about it and to plan for it and for people of all ages to be in a good place when they die – physically, emotionally and with the right care in place. Getting there means having some important conversations and taking some careful decisions.
During Dying Matters Awareness Week is about opening up the conversation around death, dying and bereavement and asking ourselves to think about what it means to be in a good place to die.
