St Columba's Hospice Care is pleased to be supporting Demystifying Death Week (10-16 May), shining a light on death, dying and bereavement in Scotland.
Demystifying Death Week is about giving people knowledge, skills and opportunities to plan and support each other through death, dying, loss and care. Here in Scotland, the Week is organised by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief as part of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC) and it runs in parallel to Dying Matters week in England.
“If people know a bit more about death and dying, they’re in a better position to take control of their own situation, support others, make plans and have informed decisions about what they’d want when the time comes,” said Rebecca Patterson, Director of Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief.
At St Columba's, our Supportive Care and Compassionate Communities teams and wider Hospice community will be engaging with Demystifying Death Week through supporting and taking part in the programme of activities. We wanted to share these with you in case you would like to sign up for any of the events too.
Here are some of the workshops and webinars available:
Unexpected Consequences: A Webinar on Bereavement: Tuesday 11 May, 13:30 to 15:15
Topics:
- People dying at home during Covid (Dr Jan Savinc, Napier University)
- How disenfranchised grief has been affected by Covid-19 (Paul Parsons, Adult Bereavement Coordinator for St Christopher’s Hospice)
- Digital Accessibility and the impact on grief (Donna Hastings, Child and Families Worker for St Columba’s Hospice Care, Edinburgh)
Loss & the Creative Arts: Music, Poetry & other Arts as Expression of Grief: Thursday 13 May 2021, 13:00 to 15:00
This is an event for Dying Matters Week, chaired by Professor Lynne Gabriel and Dr John Wilson of York St John University Counselling and Mental Health Centre, who will introduce the work of (in alphabetical order):
- Laura Fitton, Nursing sister and published poet who works with Covid19 on the NHS front line
- Kev Fitzpatrick, singer songwriter,
- Sioux Hill, bereaved by Covid, singer with the Alone Together Choir
- Mick Jenkinson. singer songwriter and published poet
- Liam Meyer NHS worker and founder of the Alone Together Choir, as seen on BBC News
- Sarah Villeneau, ceramicist whose work is both beautiful and macabre
The event will be of interest to those who are grieving and anyone who works with death, dying, bereavement and grief, including counsellors, bereavement supporters and volunteers who are interested in working more creatively. The event will include a question and answer session.
Find out more
You may also be interested in accesssing a series of free webinars offered by Child Bereavement UK for professionals working with children and young people in Scotland:
Find out more about Demystifying Death Week via the Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief website here:
