Supporting those who are bereaved...

Karen Murphy, who is President of the Association of Hospice and Palliative Care Chaplains and serves as the Chaplain and Spiritual Lead at Weston Hospicecare, commends the awareness raising work of the Hospice UK led movement, Dying Matters.

“Dying Matters Week is an opportunity to be thankful for spiritual care teams around the country who have been part of wider teams in palliative care, supporting staff as well as patients and their families.”

— says Karen Murphy, Chaplain and Spiritual Lead, Weston Hospicecare

You can learn more about how to support those who are bereaved with this leaflet, produced by Dying Matters:

SUPPORTING BEREAVEMENT

Karen goes on to say that there have been many resources published during this past year to reflect on the experience but she highly commends to us all the latest book by Tom Gordon. ‘Whispers of Wisdom’ is just published by Wild Goose Press and is an excellent resources for anyone working in spiritual and bereavement care.

(cover photo courtesy of Claire Kelly at Unsplash and photo above from the Dying Matters resource pack)

Spiritual care for the dying...

Spiritual care for the dying is one of the most vital and poignant elements of the work of a healthcare chaplain, particularly for those who serve in palliative care settings.

We asked Karen Murphy, Chaplain and Spiritual Lead, Weston Hospicecare, to share some thoughts on this… Karen says, “Spiritual Care in its broadest form allows people to say what’s on their mind. Modern chaplaincy has evolved to be a healthcare profession that embraces diversity and is broad in its outlook and support of people who hold a variety of faith and beliefs.”

We are featuring this article as part of the Dying Matters Awareness Week 2021 - being in a good place to die. Karen goes on to say that, “Many patients I support will say that they are not religious , but say prayers, believe in ‘something’ and are not without faith. It’s an interesting debate and discussion as to what ‘non-religious’ means to people. My experience is that , as a chaplain, I am welcomed in to someone’s personal space at the end of life when big questions are suddenly overwhelming. Chaplains have the resources and skills to offer spiritual are to patients in spiritual distress and we do that with care, compassion and acceptance.”

What a unique and profound opportunity those who serves as chaplains have…. and Karen goes on the say that in some way we can all be part of this vital work, by having conversations about death and dying with those we love and those we serve in our churches. Karen commends the resources of Dying Matters to us, saying:

“Dying Matters Week is an opportunity to be thankful for spiritual care teams around the country who have been part of wider teams in palliative care, supporting staff as well as patients and their families”

— says Karen Murphy, President of the Association of Hospice and Palliative Care Chaplains

(photo above from the Dying Matters resource pack and cover photo courtesy of Toa Heftiba at Unsplash)

DYING MATTERS AWARENESS WEEK 2021 - BEING IN A GOOD PLACE TO DIE - FIND OUT MORE HERE

For further information about chaplaincy and spiritual care provision in palliative care, please visit the AHPCC and UKBHC websites.

"Talking about death doesn’t bring death closer. It’s about planning for life, helping us make the most of the time that we have...."

“Talking about death doesn’t bring death closer. It’s about planning for life, helping us make the most of the time that we have….”, so a leaflet produced by Dying Matters says…

Since the Dying Matters Coalition was set up in 2009, they’ve created a wide range of resources to help people start conversations about dying, death and bereavement. These have been a great success and used by a host of different organisations including hospices, hospitals, care homes, community centres, financial advisers and funeral directors have all used them to successfully raise awareness in their area.

We all need a bit of help and support to enable us to raise conversations about death and dying - for our own death, the death and dying those we love or those we minister to in our churches. Help is at hand! Dying Matters have produced a range of useful, sensitive and informative pamphlets to support us in doing this.

Why we need to talk more about death and dying

We are featuring these resources and sharing them with you as part of Dying Matters Awareness Week 2021 - Being in a good place to die. You can find out more about the important work of this Hospice UK led coalition and how we can get involved HERE.

(photo above from Dying Matters resource pack and cover photo courtesy of Harli Marten at Unsplash)

"Talking about death is a taboo subject that people shy away from or feel anxious about..."

“Talking about death is a taboo subject that people shy away from or feel anxious about", says our Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy, Mark Newitt. This is something that is often all too true, so the Hospice UK led coalition of organisations (Dying Matters) encourage us to take part in an Awareness Week, during this week, to help to raise the profile of Dying Matters; they want to enable us to have the confidence and courage to start conversations with those in our families and churches and for those we minister to.

“Dying Matters Awareness Week is a fantastic opportunity to open up the conversation around death, dying and bereavement and I encourage you to look at the resources available on the Dying Matters website.”

— says Rev Dr Mark Newitt, Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy, Free Churches

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE VITAL WORK OF DYING MATTERS AND

HOW TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT DEATH AND DYING

Prayerfully preparing for Dying Matters Awareness Week 2021 - taking place all next week

Many of you will already be aware of the Hospice UK movement. Well, they are the lead organisation, with a group of coalition partners, who support Dying Matters; next week is the Awareness Week - on the theme of ‘Being in a good place to die’.

Over the course of the coming week, through our FCG website and social media channels, we will be sharing with you a range of poignant and timely reflections linked with the vital work of Dying Matters, brought to us by chaplains in healthcare and palliative care settings. There will be the chance to have access to helpful and sensitively produced resources, films, books and other support materials.

Please do check out the news page in the coming days; we hope and pray that the content shared will be an encouragement to us all. We are working alongside Dying Matters to help to create an open culture that talks about death, dying and bereavement. Dying matters to all of us - so let's talk about it.

Thank you for taking part in Dying Matters Awareness Week 2021.

This year, we are focusing on the importance of ‘being in a good place to die’.

“Dying Matters believes in an open culture that talks about  death, and where people feel able to listen and support those  who are planning for end of life, who are dying and who have  been bereaved.
The lack of openness in society has affected the quality and range of support and care services available to patients and families. 
It has also affected our ability to die where or how we would wish. We want to break the stigma, challenge preconceptions and normalise public openness around death, dying and bereavement.”

— says Dying Matters

(cover photo by Priscilla Du Preez at Unsplash and photo above from Dying Matters Resources)