As weavers of willow coffins, Musgrove Willows are proud advocates of Hospice UK’s Dying Matters campaign. This campaign aims to change and improve the language we as a society use around death, dying, and grief. This is marked by Dying Matters Awareness Week, which takes place from 6-12 May.
Why the way we talk about dying is so important
The charity Hospice UK started Dying Matters because the language we currently have around death isn’t always adequate.
The nervousness and lack of confidence many people feel around the subject reinforces the taboos surrounding conversations about death. When candid conversations about death can’t happen, carers and families may not fully understand what is happening, or miss out on vital information. It means that not everyone gets the support they need as they approach the end of their life, and bereaved families and carers may not get the support they need either.
Dying Matters aims to change this. Hospice UK work with organisations, decision makers, and the public to improve conversations regarding the end of life. It is a time when people feel at their most vulnerable, and enabling people to communicate openly in a way that leaves them feeling informed and supported is incredibly important.
Dying Matters Awareness Week 2024
This year, the theme of Dying Matters Awareness Week is ‘The way we talk about Dying Matters.’ The campaign is promoting the idea that honest, open conversations about death and dying are vital to ensuring good end of life care. At its core, this means improving communications between hardworking healthcare professionals and their patients, and those patients’ carers and families.
Dying Matters are asking the public to share how specific language used by healthcare professionals has affected end of life experience for them. They are also asking the incredible people who work in hospices around the UK to share their advice on how to have honest, transparent conversations with people about death and dying.
This is what Dying Matters Awareness Week aims to promote: the importance of improving the language around death and dying, and how we can all work together to make that change.
