Hospice Isle of Man looks after patients on the Island with life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses. As part of a UK National campaign Dying Matters Awareness Week is being held between Monday 14th to Sunday 20th May 2012 Hospice is asking the public to talk about dying.
The theme of Dying Matters Awareness Week 2012 is “Small Actions, Big Difference”, which is aimed at encouraging individuals and organisations to take the simple steps that can make a big difference to people when they are dying or bereaved. Whether it is through sharing their wishes with someone close to them, registering to become an organ donor, writing a will, considering taking out a funeral plan or making an effort to speak to someone who has been recently bereaved, members of the public can take small actions that make a real difference.
Research for Dying Matters has previously found that many people have specific wishes about their end of life care or what they would like to happen to them after their death, but that a reluctance to discuss these issues makes it much less likely that these will be met. There is a major mismatch between people’s preferences for where they would like to die and their actual place of death – in the UK 70% of people would prefer to die at home but more than half currently die in hospital. The range of care available also varies greatly. On the Isle of Man, the Hospice, Isle of Man Government and third sector organisations are jointly producing an End of Life Care Framework which aims are to identify what the residents on the Island want for their End of Life Care and the experiences of carers caring for people at the end of their life. The Framework is due to be published later this year.”
Chief Executive of Hospice Isle of Man Margaret Simpson said: “I would ask individuals to reach out to recently bereaved people during this awareness week or perhaps pick up a legacy leaflet from Hospice or from any one of our shops and consider leaving a gift or a legacy to Hospice. At Hospice 83p in every pound donated is spent directly on patient care and legacies to will ensure Hospice’s works lives on.”
Hospice’s bereavement group meet every month – to find out more details see www.hospice.org.im The next bereavement group meeting at Hospice is on Wednesday 13th June.
